PITTSBURGH — A UPMC police officer is at the center of a federal lawsuit filed this week that claims he punched a patient in the face multiple times and then lied about what happened.
The incident resulted in criminal charges against the patient, which were ultimately dismissed.
David Drews was at UPMC Presby last December, right before he was supposed to receive a liver transplant.
The eight-page federal lawsuit outlines what he says happened next — including being punched in the face multiple times by a UPMC police officer.
Drews had been battling end-stage liver disease, cirrhosis, and cancer prior to the transplant.
The surgery went smoothly, but the road to get there was anything but.
This week, Drews filed a federal lawsuit against UPMC police officer Chris Cicchitto, stemming from an incident all captured on video.
“This video is clear as day that this police officer pulls the hospital bed toward himself to get leverage and sucker punches Mr. Drews directly in the face.” Drews’s attorney Alec Wright said.
Wright is not releasing the video — but did share a photo of Drews with stitches on his face from last December.
Wright says his client was attacked by Cicchitto on Dec. 16.
Drews was at UPMC Presby that day, for what should have been final evaluations before his transplant.
During his visit, Drews, who has bipolar disorder, was experiencing seizure-like symptoms and psychosis, so he was taken to Western Psych.
During that transport, Drews began video recording Cicchitto and other officers with his phone.
“All that is happening is Mr. Drews is filming. He calls the main officer, the biggest one, a ‘dork’ and a ‘virgin’ and as a result of it gets sucker punched right in the face. It’s as simple as that and it’s something that should never happen,” Wright explained.
Wright says Cicchitto then files felony criminal charges against Drews, leading to a commitment to Western Psych and a temporary removal from the transplant list.
“This police officer lied about this interaction. In order to justify sucker punching a sick citizen in the face when you’re twice that person’s size, is to lie about it and say, ‘This person assaulted me, this person attacked me,’” Wright said.
All charges against Drews were eventually dropped.
He’s now suing Cicchitto for excessive force, malicious prosecution and false arrest, among other things.
The lawsuit is against Cicchitto individually and UPMC declined to comment.
When asked if Cicchitto is still employed, UPMC officials would not say.
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