An insurance company for the state police will pay a Penn Hills man and his lawyer $250,000 to settle an excessive force claim against a trooper who has been sued multiple times.

Trooper Samuel Nassan, who was found liable for killing a 12-year-old in 2002 and who is facing a second suit in another shooting, was accused of accosting Christopher Strothers of Penn Hills outside a South Side bar.

Mr. Strothers sued in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court and the case was later transferred to federal court because it involved civil rights claims.

Mr. Strothers' lawyer, George Kontos, and a lawyer for the state police, Senior Deputy Attorney General Robert Willig, reached a settlement and agreed to keep it confidential.

But case law and the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law have established that settlements involving public agencies are public. The settlement was signed on Sept. 3 by Mr. Kontos and his client and by Mr. Willig on Sept. 15.

U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer signed a dismissal order earlier this month.

Mr. Willig could not be reached for comment. Mr. Kontos said he couldn't discuss any aspect of the case because he said he and his client signed an agreement not to talk about settlement terms.

In his complaint, Mr. Strothers said Trooper Nassan threw him to the ground outside Rumshaker's Bar on July 6, 2008.

He cited other suits and settlements involving Trooper Nassan in an attempt to show a history of violent behavior and lax oversight by the state police.

Trooper Nassan shot Michael Ellerbe, 12, in the back on Dec. 24, 2002, after a chase in Uniontown. The state agreed to pay a $12.5 million settlement in that case.

In another suit, a flight attendant said Trooper Nassan gave him an illegal citation after the trooper said the attendant flipped the middle finger at him in traffic in Robinson. That case was settled for $7,500.

Since then, Trooper Nassan has been sued again by the family of Nicholas Haniotakis, 33, whom the trooper is accused of shooting to death in the early morning hours after the St. Patrick's Day party on the South Side in March.

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.