Man claims Dover police beat, shot him with stun gun

A Pennsylvania man is suing the Dover Police Department for excessive force, alleging police shot him in the back with a stun gun without warning in 2013, came to his house the next night, beat him, then took him into custody and filed bogus paperwork to justify the arrest.

Stephen DiFlorio, 22, of West Chester, said he was stunned directly in the spine by Dover police officers who offered no warning, or legal reason why they shot him with the stun gun, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Delaware. The lawsuit names 10 different Dover officers, the police department and the city of Dover.

Police arrived at the now-closed W.T. Smithers Restaurant and Tavern during an altercation between DiFlorio and a group of people outside the State Street bar, court records say.

DiFlorio encountered police as he was walking away.

DiFlorio also alleges that police violated their own policies and procedures by removing the stun gun's prongs from his back at the scene. DiFlorio said he was transported by EMS to Kent General Hospital, where he was treated and discharged.

Charges were not pressed against him at that time.

He also alleges that police officers, including those from Dover Police, came to his house the next day dressed in tactical uniforms and removed him from his house.

"As Mr. DiFlorio was being pulled from his home, he asked the defendant police officers why they were at his home. Again, instead of explaining what had happened, the defendant officers, without basis in law, pulled/threw Mr. DiFlorio off his porch, down the steps and on to the ground," according to the complaint.

"Once on the ground, Mr. DiFlorio's hands were immediately placed behind his back. Once his hands were behind his back, the defendant police officers proceeded to punch and kick him repeatedly in his body and face even after placing his hands behind his back and despite Mr. DiFlorio's cries for help."

The lawsuit comes as the city and Dover police face another, separate lawsuit filed by the ACLU last year. In that case, which stems from an incident in 2013, Dover police allegedly broke a man's jaw during a routine police arrest. A grand jury decided not to indict the officer last year.

Dover police made national headlines in January after a staged dash-cam video of one of their officers lip-syncing and dancing to Taylor Swift's 'Shake it Off' went viral. The video, an attempt to show the lighter side of police work after nationwide brutality claims, has almost 31 million views on YouTube.

Earlier this year, city officials voted for a program that would hire six cadets, armed with stun guns, to patrol downtown.

Dover Police spokesman Cpl. Mark Hoffman, who was also named in the lawsuit, said the police department does not comment on pending litigation, but is aware of the allegations.

Nicholas Rodriguez, the city's attorney, said he had no knowledge of the lawsuit and that it was sent directly to the city's insurance carrier.

DiFlorio said in the complaint that he did not provoke or resist arrest during the alleged incident.

He alleges he was then bent over a police vehicle and searched at his home the night after he was struck with the stun gun in Dover. During that search, he alleges police officers spoke vulgarly and threatened his family.

DiFlorio says he was then taken to the police station and thrown into a holding cell until 2 a.m. on March 18, 2013, court records show.

He was charged with resisting arrest, underage consumption of alcohol and disorderly conduct. But DiFlorio alleges that police officers doctored paperwork misrepresenting the events that led to the beating and assault. All of the charges, except disorderly conduct, were dropped against DiFlorio, according to court records.

"These misrepresentations were intentional, malicious, in bad faith, deliberately indifferent and recklessly indifferent to Mr. DiFlorio's rights," according to the lawsuit.

DiFlorio claims that the alleged beating gave him a concussion and left him with injuries to his head, jaw, wrists and wrists. He claims that he continues to suffer from and post-concussive pain, anxiety, fear, and mental harm.

Contact Jon Offredo at (302) 678-4271, on Twitter @JonOffredo or joffredo@delawareonline.com.