NORTH PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A North Providence couple alleges the police department provides “grossly inadequate” training to its officers and fails to screen candidates for “propensities for violence,” in a lawsuit filed Friday against the town and police department in U.S. District Court Rhode Island.

Joseph Wayne Deion and his wife, Sharon Deion, say that on Oct. 3, 2013, three North Providence police officers forcibly entered their home and, without letting the couple know they had an arrest warrant, slammed Joseph Deion’s head on the floor multiple times, according to the suit filed by Gil Bianchi Jr., the couple’s attorney.

In July, the couple sent the Town Council a letter seeking $6 million in damages for the injuries Deion suffered, including “a traumatic brain injury, chronic headaches, vertigo, hyperacusis, tinnitus, photophobia.”

Reached at their Elmcrest Avenue home Wednesday afternoon, Joseph Deion and Sharon Deion declined to comment on the suit and referred all questions to Bianchi.

“We have nothing to say,” Sharon Deion said. “Goodbye. God Bless.”

Bianchi has not returned several calls from The Providence Journal. Mayor Charles Lombardi said he and Acting Deputy Police Chief Charles Davey have tried to reach Bianchi multiple times since the July complaint, but he has not returned calls or letters.

Acting Police Chief Christopher Pelagio said the department is investigating the claims against four officers named in the suit: Patrolman Zachary Burns, hired in 2011; Patrolman Raymond Nardolillo, hired in 2006; Sgt. Brian DiPetrillo, hired in 2000; and Lt. Dennis Stone, hired in 2000. They are still at work.

The suit alleges Burns, DiPetrillo and Nardolillo used “excessive force and physical brutality” while they restrained and arrested Joseph Deion for the felony stalking of the council's then-president, Kristen Catanzaro. The Deions say Stone “intentionally and wrongfully stated and omitted pertinent facts” to get the warrant. The stalking charge against Joseph Deion, which stemmed from a battle over street parking, was dismissed by Superior Court Judge John Flynn in November 2015.

Lombardi, who is also the public safety director, said the investigation is ongoing. He had no time frame as to when it might be completed.

“Based on what they’re saying, they don’t feel there has been any unnecessary force based on, I guess, their talkings with the officers,” Lombardi said. Pelagio “vehemently denies” the allegations that his officers aren’t properly trained. They have training regarding the excessive use of force every six months, he said.

Catanzaro, former Police Chief Paul Martellini, Finance Director Justin Cambio, and 10 “John and Jane Does” are also named in the suit.

— jtempera@providencejournal.com

401-277-7121

On Twitter: @jacktemp