A man who said he was assaulted by police officers working at the Post-Gazette Pavilion in 2003 has settled his lawsuit with Hanover Township for $180,000.

Joseph Trone, who attended a Toby Keith concert with his wife and 9-year-old son on Sept. 26, 2003, filed a federal lawsuit against the township, the police department and the officer who he says injured him.

After the concert, Mr. Trone, a captain with the Aliquippa Fire Department, and his family were waiting behind a police line for the performers to come out to get autographs, when Officer Jay Green approached and told them the group was gone.

Mr. Trone, now 35, told the officer the band's entourage was still there. Mr. Trone said Officer Green became enraged and moments later kicked Mr. Trone's legs out from under him and arrested him for disorderly conduct. The charge was later dismissed.

The lawsuit contended that Mr. Trone suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that required surgery and other injuries.

Attorney Paul Krepps, who represented the township in this case and an earlier incident at the Washington County venue, said reaching a settlement was the prudent thing to do.

"It was a number both sides could agree upon without having to go to trial," Mr. Krepps said. "The injuries made it a high risk for everybody."

The settlement reached last week was the second one in the last two years involving the actions of Hanover officers at the Post-Gazette Pavilion.

The township agreed to pay a city of Pittsburgh homicide detective $50,000 in January 2005 after he said he was falsely arrested after a Brooks & Dunn concert.

Lt. Kevin Kraus said he was manhandled by township officers at the July 2002 concert when he stopped his sport utility vehicle to speak to other city officers in the parking lot when the event was clearing out.

Three Hanover officers pulled up and shouted profanities at him, demanding that he get out of his vehicle. Before he could, one of the officers grabbed him by the shoulder and tried to yank him through the window, the lawsuit contended.

Lt. Kraus said he was then slammed against his SUV, handcuffed and thrown in the back of a police car, but was released a short time later.

He sued the township and police officers for violating his constitutional rights.

For both lawsuits, it was the township's insurance carrier that made the decision to settle, Mr. Krepps said.

"It's an economic decision," he said. "In the settlement agreement, it clearly states, 'there is no admission of liability.'"

Mr. Krepps believes the number of incidents stemming from concerts at the Post-Gazette Pavilion is low considering the tens of thousands of people who attend concerts there each summer.

"All in all, I think they do a very good job of moving people in and out," Mr. Krepps said.

But Frank Moore, the lawyer who represented Mr. Trone, disagreed.

"I think it's a training issue," he said. "It's a very small township police department, and crowd control issues tend not to be something a small-town police department deals with.

"These part-time officers just need more training with crowd-control issues."

The officers who work events there are certified as Hanover Township police officers, but they do not patrol the community. Instead, they only work concerts, and most of them are officers in other municipalities, Mr. Krepps said.