Pittsburgh officials Wednesday released records with the names of three city police detectives — one of them the leader of his police academy class — present at a bar brawl involving one of their colleagues last month in Pleasant Hills.
Pittsburgh police Chief Jason Lando placed Detectives Jake Flickinger, Kyle Briggs and Brayden Davies on paid administrative leave Feb. 12 during an internal investigation, according to records TribLive obtained through a request under the Pennsylvania’s Right-To-Know Law.
The detectives’ names have not previously been reported.
Lando acted four days after the late-night fight that resulted in an assault charge against the trio’s colleague, Pittsburgh Det. Richard L. Dilimone Jr., 36, of Adams Township, Butler County.
Dilimone remains on paid leave as his criminal case works its way through the courts. His fellow detectives returned to work after 13 days on leave, records show.
Police did not immediately respond to a request for information about the detectives’ assignments or duty locations.
Pleasant Hills police charged Dilimone with striking Edward Estes with a full beer bottle on Feb. 8 inside the Pleasant Bar. Estes’ lawyer said the blow opened a 6-inch gash in his client’s forehead.
Estes was charged with simple assault for punching Flickinger in the nose, police said.
Class leader
Briggs, who joined the Pittsburgh police bureau in 2019, was the leader of his police academy class.
When Briggs spoke at his police academy graduation ceremony seven years ago, he called on his peers to uphold four key tenets — honor, integrity, compassion and respect.
“It’s our responsibility to continue being good people. We will all make mistakes, we will all have bad days. As long as you continue being a good person, you will all have long, fulfilling careers,” Briggs said. “The day we stop being good people is the day we start being bad cops.”
TribLive sought information about the previously unnamed detectives after Pittsburgh police refused to identify them.
“There is no reason publicly to name them as they are not charged with any crimes and the incident they were involved in occurred while they were off duty and outside of the City of Pittsburgh,” Cara Cruz, a police spokeswoman, told TribLive on March 11.
Dilimone joined the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police in 2015, and Flickinger and Davies in 2018, city records show.
Each detective’s salary last year was $90,972.
Dilimone hung up last week when called by a TribLive reporter. The other three detectives did not return phone calls Wednesday seeking comment.
Attorney Casey White — who represents Estes, 36, of Pittsburgh — said his client acted in self-defense “when he was initially accosted by an off-duty City of Pittsburgh police officer.”
“This was a chaotic situation inside a crowded bar — and most of the facts are far from clear at this point,” White told TribLive.
Nicole Nino, who represents Dilimone, has said she looks forward to commenting on March 25, when both men are scheduled to have preliminary hearings.
The head of the police union, which represents the bureau’s rank and file, has declined comment.
Feeling threatened
Pleasant Hills police said officers were dispatched around 1 a.m. on Feb. 8, a Sunday, to what is known as “The P Bar” on Old Clairton Road for a reported fight. The six-sentence criminal complaints against both Estes and Dilimone were similar and offered few details.
Security cameras at what is known as “The P Bar” recorded the fight, the complaints said.
White said Estes went to the bar the evening before to watch basketball with friends.
Another friend 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.
The confrontation continued between the officers and Estes, according to White.
“My guy felt threatened,” White said. “He thought he was going to get hit.”
White said his client threw the first punch.
First responders rushed Estes to the hospital, where doctors used nine stitches to seal the resulting wound.
White said the group of officers left the bar before local police arrived that night.