TRUMBULL COUNTY Niles man files lawsuit against city, 3 police officers

A neighbor thought the man was trying to break into the apartment.
WARREN -- A Niles man is seeking more than $5 million from that city and three police officers, contending he was unlawfully arrested by police and they used excessive force to subdue him.
Curtis Kuntz of Arms Boulevard filed the lawsuit Monday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court through his lawyers Damian A. Billak of Youngstown and Gordon S. Friedman of Cleveland.
The lawsuit lists the city, officers John Marshall, Timothy Hewitt and Craig Aurilio and others who aren't identified as defendants.
J. Terrence Dull, city law director, declined to comment because he hadn't seen the lawsuit.
According to the complaint, Kuntz, whom it identifies as a teacher and a football coach at Warren G. Harding High School, returned to his apartment early in the morning July 26, 2003.
He didn't want to wake his fianc & eacute;e, so he sat on the balcony of their apartment before going to bed, the lawsuit said.
Another resident of the building apparently saw Kuntz on the balcony and called police, thinking he was trying to break into the apartment.
Police at the scene
The police arrived after about 30 minutes, and the three officers approached Kuntz with guns drawn and flashlights pointed at him, ordering him down from the balcony.
The lawsuit says Kuntz tried to explain that he lived in the apartment, but the officers wouldn't listen.
"Officers forcibly grabbed Mr. Kuntz and slammed him to the ground repeatedly," the lawsuit says.
Subsequent medical reports show the handling reaggravated an injury to Kuntz's right ankle.
"While Mr. Kuntz was on the ground, the three officers twisted his arms behind his back, squeezed his testicles, kicked and kneed him repeatedly about the head and body," it says.
One of the officers used pepper spray on him, and Kuntz was dragged through the back yard of his apartment complex, the lawsuit says.
"At some point during the incident, Mr. Kuntz's fianc & eacute;e was awakened by the commotion outside," it says. "She came out and identified Mr. Kuntz as her fianc & eacute;, but the officers would not release him."
He was charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. He suffered cuts and bruises on his head and body, damage to his vision, a head injury and damage to his right ankle as well as emotional distress, loss of reputation and legal fees, the lawsuit says.
It alleges that the city failed to "adequately train and supervise its investigators concerning proper police procedure governing apprehension of suspects, arrests and the use of excessive force."