The family of a man who was crushed underneath a bulldozer in Pennsylvania last summer has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Pennsylvania State Police and others, saying his death was a result of their reckless actions.
In July of 2018, a Pennsylvania Game Commission worker was operating a bulldozer on state game lands near Reading when he noticed a vehicle parked in some brush away from the road where it wasn’t permitted.
After the worker contacted the Bernville Borough Police Department, officers soon arrived and discovered ten cannabis plants growing in a small hidden plot.
When two men emerged from the underbrush shortly thereafter, officers were able to apprehend 54-year-old David Brook Light, but 51-year-old Gregory A. Longnecker managed to evade capture.
In the search that followed, the bulldozer operator and a state trooper plowed through the thick vegetation where they had last seen Longnecker. When they stopped the bulldozer, they discovered that the man had become caught in the machine’s treads and crushed.
Longnecker’s family was confused as to why police did not attempt to arrest him later since they knew his identity and his crime was relatively minor.
“They killed a beautiful human being, a caring, loving man” Longnecker’s uncle Mike Carpenter told the Associated Press. “He’ll never be able to share his life with us, or us with him, again. For no reason. He wasn’t hurting anyone.”
The family’s lawsuit seeks damages from state police, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, and individuals involved in the chase.
