HAZLETON, Pa. — A man flung from the passenger seat of a pickup truck that crashed fleeing police officers more than four years ago in Luzerne County is suing on claims they put him in danger by chasing the truck’s driver.
A lawsuit filed Friday in federal court also alleged officers used excessive force when they wrongfully arrested Isaias Manuel Garcia, of Schuylkill County, in February 2020.
Garcia, thrown near the McAdoo exit off Interstate 81 South, was Tasered by two officers “as he lie face down in the snow with no pants and in serious medical distress,” the suit alleged.
Attorneys Theron J. Solomon and Matthew Clemente brought the suit March 1 and moved it to federal court a week later. It named as defendants Omar Vargas, who was said to be behind the wheel of the fleeing pick-up truck, as well as the truck’s registered owner, Brian Castillo.
The suit also seeks damages from the city of Hazleton and from two police officers who arrested Garcia, Jonathan Leonard and Eric Hernandez.
Vargas pleaded guilty in 2021 to a misdemeanor drug offense following the high-speed chase and crash, court records show. The lawsuit stated police initially charged Vargas and Garcia with a host of far more serious felonies. A judge dismissed Garcia’s charges.
“(Leonard) alleged — with no evidence — that Mr. Garcia conspired with (Vargas) to flee from the police, recklessly endanger the police, engage in a hit and run, attempt to assault the police, and commit various traffic violations,” Solomon and Clemente wrote.
According to the complaint, Leonard tried to stop a speeding pickup truck Feb. 8, 2020. The driver, later identified as Vargas, fled Leonard’s overhead lights and sirens.
Vargas led Leonard on a high-speed chase through the “crowded streets of Hazleton,” the complaint stated.
Vargas crashed into Leonard’s cruiser at one point and sped off onto I-81 South, where Vargas, Leonard and Hernandez raced past 100 miles per hour.
Vargas crashed trying to leave the interstate because he could not navigate an exit ramp’s “hairpin” turn. The pickup truck rolled several times and threw its passenger, Garcia, into the snowy ground.
The suit faults the officers for engaging in a “reckless high-speed chase.” It also blames the city, claiming the officers’ supervisors reviewed the chase and determined the pursuit justified.
The state police, in an annual report, said few areas of police work prompt as much scrutiny as police chases.
“The basic dilemma associated with high-speed police pursuits of fleeing individuals is deciding whether the benefits of potential apprehension outweigh the risks to police officers, the public, and the violator(s),” they wrote in a recent report summarizing statewide pursuit data from 2022.
The report found that the number of police chases in Pennsylvania jumped by 51% from 2018 and 2022 — from 1,790 to 2,718. However, it also found that the rate at which those pursuits resulted in crashes decreased during that time frame.
Messages left for Police Chief Brian Schoonmaker and attorney Shawna R Laughlin, who is representing the defendants, were not immediately returned.
The suit seeks damages to be determined at trial on 10 counts, including negligence, false arrest and excessive force.
