Senior's injuries at Clairton traffic stop questioned
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His family provided this photo of Robert C. Ruffing, 76, of Clairton, showing his injuries.
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Clairton police pulled over 76-year-old Robert C. Ruffing on the morning of Dec. 16 upon spotting an assault suspect in his car. Shortly after the traffic stop, an ambulance transported Mr. Ruffing from the police station to the hospital with head and facial injuries, according to his attorney.
How Mr. Ruffing was hurt is not clear. But whatever occurred on a bleak stretch of Waddell Avenue has stirred suspicions of police misconduct among Mr. Ruffing's friends and family and prompted concern among city officials, including the mayor and at least one member of council.
"I've heard a lot of stories. I don't know that any of it is true," Councilman Richard I. Ford III said. "It gives me a level of concern."
"That was not supposed to happen," Clairton Mayor Richard L. Lattanzi said of Mr. Ruffing's injuries. "The question is, how did he fall to the ground? Was there a stumble? Was he accidentally pushed? Our officers didn't intentionally go beat any old man up."
Both sides agree that there was physical contact between Mr. Ruffing, a retired steel worker and husband of Clairton school board member Gloria Ruffing, and at least one Clairton police officer, Jeffrey Nolte.
But the full story of exactly what occurred between the patrolman and the senior citizen -- and whether that contact led to Mr. Ruffing's injuries, subsequent surgery and hospitalization -- is the subject of competing accounts.
Robert Behling, Mr. Ruffing's attorney, has notified Clairton that he has been retained and asked that any video footage from police dashboard cameras and the police station be retained.
He said his client has a fractured eye socket and underwent surgery for bleeding and pressure on the brain.
Mr. Ruffing is now at UPMC Montefiore in Oakland undergoing speech and occupational therapy, Mr. Behling said.
An emergency department report from Jefferson Regional Medical Center said Mr. Ruffing was transported there by ambulance about 11 a.m. Dec. 16 and was seen for injuries to his head and face, Mr. Behling said.
Mr. Ruffing's version of the events is recorded in a doctor's report that was provided by the hospital to Mr. Behling.
"The patient was taken out of the vehicle and apparently was going to be handcuffed. When the police officer was going to do that, the patient was pushed down to the ground and struck his head on the concrete, injuring his left eye and face," Mr. Behling said, reading from a copy of the hospital report.
Mr. Ruffing's injuries, according to that report, included a large subdural hematoma and various fractures.
"The injuries were caused by the police. ... Whether the injuries were a result of appropriate or inappropriate conduct under the circumstances is what is being investigated by our firm. However, the extent of the injuries strongly suggests that the conduct was inappropriate," Mr. Behling said. "How does a 76-year-old guy end up with his face smashed in?"
The only available description of the incident from the police perspective appears in an affidavit -- a sworn, public statement by police to a judge that provides the rationale for an arrest.
In it, Patrolman Nolte describes Mr. Ruffing as "angry and aggressive," foul-mouthed and resistant to efforts to frisk him around 10:20 a.m.
The encounter culminated, police said, with Mr. Ruffing trying to elbow Patrolman Nolte.
"To that point, I still hadn't been able to ensure that this driver didn't have weapons on him. I placed him into custody by using an [arm bar move], used the least force that I could in placing him on the ground, and placed him into handcuffs," Patrolman Nolte wrote.
Police charged Mr. Ruffing with a felony count of hindering apprehension and misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer.
The affidavit does not indicate whether Mr. Ruffing was injured or taken to the hospital.
Patrolman Nolte and Clairton police Chief Robert Hoffman would not comment, citing the possibility of litigation. The chief said the police account of the events would come out during Mr. Ruffing's Feb. 14 preliminary hearing.
Former Patrolman Michael Holzer, who was at the scene of the arrest and has since been hired as a police officer in Lancaster County, did not respond to interview requests.
City Manager Howard J. Bednar refused to provide a copy of the police incident report, which might contain a detailed account of the encounter.
Jessie Spence, 55, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette he was walking down the street when he noticed a commotion around two police cars. He said he saw an officer ask Mr. Ruffing to get out of his car, and when Mr. Ruffing cursed and refused, the officer opened the driver-side door and pulled him out.
"What I saw was just out of the ordinary," Mr. Spence said. "[The officer] took him and just slammed him. His face was all bloodied up."
Mr. Spence said Mr. Ruffing struggled against the officer. He said Mr. Ruffing appeared to be handcuffed when the officer "threw him down face-first."
"This man is old, fragile," Mr. Spence said. "I was furious."
Mr. Lattanzi defended his officers.
"There was no willful intent," the mayor said.
Mr. Lattanzi said he learned of the incident from a "friend" that Friday night. The police chief did not contact him until Monday, he said.
"He's a wonderful guy," the mayor said of Mr. Ruffing. But "sometimes people have bad days or something goes wrong. On this particular day something happened."
Mr. Lattanzi said he did not open an investigation after speaking with the two officers and the chief, who gave similar accounts.
"It wasn't like he was already handcuffed and he was thrown to the ground. The only way our police would have to manhandle somebody or grab onto them is if they were resisting arrest," Mr. Lattanzi said. "They did everything they had to do within the guidelines of being a police officer. Everything that was done ... as bad as it sounds, was all consistent with what had to be done with protocol."
The affidavit says the incident began unfolding when police were told that Clairton resident Wesley Neal, 55, hit two people with a cement block earlier that morning.
Mr. Neal is an acquaintance of the Ruffings, and Mr. Ruffing has hired him for odd jobs.
Raymond Russo, 70, of Clairton, said he bumped into Mr. Ruffing and Mr. Neal that morning at a plumbing store.
Mr. Russo said Mr. Ruffing offered them a ride, despite the fact that Mr. Neal was bloody and carrying a cement block.
"He was gonna be a nice guy and ride this guy home," Mr. Russo said. "This dude carried that house brick and put it in the front seat with him."
The trio set off in Mr. Ruffing's sedan with Mr. Ruffing driving and Mr. Neal up front, Mr. Russo said.
At 10:20 a.m., officers spotted Mr. Neal in the car near Clairton's business district.
Patrolman Nolte activated his lights and siren, and Mr. Ruffing drove for a block before pulling over, according to the affidavit.
Patrolman Nolte wrote in the affidavit that he spotted the cement block on the floor of the car's front passenger seat after Mr. Neal, who was wearing a bloodstained jacket, was handcuffed. When he reached in to get it, Mr. Ruffing said, "That's my brick. Don't touch it," the affidavit said.
"If that's your brick, then you can go to jail, too," Patrolman Nolte replied.
He ordered Mr. Ruffing out and told him to put his hands on the vehicle to be patted down for weapons. The police report makes no mention of how Mr. Ruffing exited the car.
Patrolman Nolte wrote that Mr. Ruffing "kept looking at me" and took his hand off the roof.
"I grabbed his hand and instructed him to keep his hand on the roof and I placed it there," the affidavit said. "He stated, 'You don't have to [expletive] touch me!'
"When I tried to pat him down again he removed his hand and turned and when I grabbed his wrist to replace it, he turned his body and swung his right elbow at me towards my chest and head."
Mr. Russo and others who know Mr. Ruffing said he can be quick to anger.
"Bob could have a bit of a temper if he thinks he's being misused or talked down to," Mr. Ford said.
Mr. Russo said police asked for his identification but did not require him to step out of the car or question whether he was armed. "They were real polite to me," Mr. Russo said.
Mr. Russo remained in the back seat. He said he could not hear Mr. Ruffing's conversation with police and did not see Mr. Ruffing fall. He added that he did see him get up. Mr. Russo corroborated the police account that his friend argued with the officers.
The affidavit does not mention Mr. Russo's name or the presence of a third person in the vehicle.
Mr. Ruffing was taken to Jefferson Regional Medical Center and then flown by helicopter to UPMC Presbyterian, where he remained until Dec. 21, Mr. Behling said. The hospital would not release any information, citing patient confidentiality.
Mr. Neal faces aggravated assault, theft, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief charges. He remained in the Allegheny County Jail on Tuesday.
Pittsburgh police Officer David Wright, the city police academy's lead defensive tactics instructor, said officers consider a person's age and build when making an arrest, but those are not the only factors.
When judging cases in which an officer has used force, Officer Wright said he relies on the "reasonable officer standard," which asks whether another officer facing similar circumstances would have done the same thing.
"If [a person] is resisting to the point that the officer is in immediate threat of serious bodily injury or death, the officer is going to take into account what's known to him," he said, speaking generally without commenting on the Clairton case.
"If they see an elderly man, they are going to take that into account, but if the elderly man continues to resist to the point where they can't make their arrest, they're going to have to escalate their force."
First Published January 25, 2012 12:00 am
