A Pittsburgh police detective was charged Wednesday with assault for allegedly braining a man with a full beer bottle during a bar fight last month, leaving a 6-inch gash in the man’s forehead.
The man investigators said he hit was also charged in the brawl.
Pittsburgh police Det. Richard L. Dilimone Jr., 36, of Adams Township in Butler County, was charged with aggravated assault in connection with the late-night fight in February at a Pleasant Hills bar.
Edward Estes, also 36, of Pittsburgh, was charged with simple assault.
Both men were charged by Pleasant Hills police Lt. Kristin Mitrisin.
“This was a chaotic situation inside a crowded bar — and most of the facts are far from clear at this point,” attorney Casey White, who represents Estes, told TribLive Wednesday.
White said his client acted in self-defense “when he was initially accosted by an off-duty City of Pittsburgh police officer.”
Both men are scheduled for hearings on March 25.
“I look forward to commenting on March 25,” said attorney Nicole Nino, who represents the detective.
Dilimone joined the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police on Feb. 2, 2015, records obtained by TribLive show. His salary last year was $90,972.
Dilimone hung up Wednesday when called by a TribLive reporter.
Pleasant Hills police said last month they were investigating the fight that involved four off-duty Pittsburgh police officers.
Three of those four city officers, who have not been publicly named and were initially on paid administrative leave, have since returned to work.
Three police spokeswomen did not return phone calls or emails Wednesday seeking comment.
The head of the police union, which represents the bureau’s rank and file, declined comment.
Fight is on video
Pleasant Hills police were dispatched around 1 a.m. on Feb. 8, a Sunday, to the Pleasant Bar on Old Clairton Road after the fight was reported, according to a criminal complaint in the case.
During the fight, Dilimone hit Estes in the forehead with the bottle, leaving the gash that required first responders to take the South Side man to an area hospital, the complaint said.
Police said Estes punched Dilimone in the face, striking his nose.
A six-sentence criminal complaint in the fight offered few details.
Security cameras at what is known as “The P Bar” recorded the fight, the complaint said.
White, Estes’ attorney, said his client went to the bar Feb. 7 around 6:45 p.m. to watch basketball with friends.
Another buddy who Estes hadn’t seen for several years arrived. A short time later, Estes saw the man engaged with a group of men in street clothes. He later learned they were Pittsburgh police officers.
They began to argue, White said, so his client approached, and walked his friend out of the bar’s back door.
Estes returned to the group, saying “ ‘Hey, it’s cool. No worries. We walked him out,’ ” White told TribLive.
That’s when, White continued, the city officers became verbally abusive and cursed.
“ ‘He’s going to get knocked the (expletive) out, and I’ll knock you out, too,’ ” White said the men told his client.
“My guy felt threatened,” White said. “He thought he was going to get hit.”
It was his client who threw the first punch, White said.
Moments later, he continued, one of the city officers — later identified as Dilimone — hit Estes over the head with a beer bottle, leaving a 6-inch gash in the middle of his forehead, which will require plastic surgery, according to White.
Estes went down to the floor, and the group continued to kick and punch him, according to White.
After Estes was able to get up, he was treated by paramedics and taken to the hospital where he received at least nine stitches, White said.
The group of officers left the bar before police arrived that night, White continued.
Pleasant Hills police did not return phone calls Wednesday seeking comment.