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"Say it ain't so?". Just when we think we've heard it all from those wonderful polite Eagles fans.An Eagles fan who allegedly punched a horse before the NFC Championship Game in January is in the process of suing the team, a Philadelphia Police Department officer and a Pennsylvania state trooper, claiming he was actually the victim.
The main figures in the lawsuit include Andrew Tornetta, the 20-year-old alleged horse-puncher; Wesley Van Wyk, a Pennsylvania State Trooper; Paul Tinneny, a Philadelphia police officer; and the Eagles organization.
Tornetta, the plaintiff, is leveying some serious accusations against that group, and NJ Advance Media took a look through the official complaint filed this week and found a number of interesting items.
Here are 8 parts of Tornetta's lawsuit that caught our eye.
1. Restitution
The complaint doesn't specify exactly how much Tornetta is seeking in damages, but that it will be in excess of $50,000.
2. Just hanging out?
Tornetta claims that as Van Wyk and Tinneny attempted to disperse a "dense" crowd in the parking lot where Tornetta was hanging out, he attempted to oblige and exit the area but was blocked. As he attempted to exit, the complaint says, Van Wyk — on horseback — grabbed Tornetta by the collar of his shirt and pulled him as his horse moved forward.
This action, the complaint says, pulled Tornetta's shirt over his head, impaired his vision and made it difficult to move his "right and left upper extremities."
3. Clothing removed
The complaint says Van Wyk's actions caused Tornetta to "become disoriented" and "his balance unstable."
As a result, Tornetta struggled to stay afoot or prevent his clothing from being forcibly removed from his body.
At that time, a second, unidentified, mounted police offiver reached down from horseback, gripped Tornetta's shirt and pulled "with the intent to remove" from his body. From there, the complaint says, Van Wyk proceeded to pull Tornetta's shirt over his head and remove it, leaving him bare-chested.
4. Baton to the body
With Tornetta shirtless, the complaint says, a third unknown horse-riding police officer pulled out a police baton and swung (and struck) Tornetta's upper body "multiple times without justification or cause", the complaint says.
At that point, Tornetta managed to break free "from the attack" and walked to the "safety of the crowd of people collected in the parking lot."
Zack Rosenblatt | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
5. Bloody face
As a bare-chested Tornetta stood amongst the crowd, the complaint says, an unknown security officer "grabbed and restrained him," in turn leading to the emergence of Tinneny "widely swinging a baton in a ... forceful manner" and repeatedly struck Tornetta in the head and face, which led to him bleeding on his face.
At that point, Tornetta was detained by Philadelphia police officers and forced to lie down on the pavement, his hands zip-tied behind his back and he was taken into custody.
He was imprisoned in a holding cell inside Lincoln Financial Field. He was eventually transferred to the police station in South Philadelphia.
6. False accusations
Some of the most important parts of the complaint include accusations levied towards Van Wyk and Tinneny, saying that they both provided misleading or false statements about Tornetta's actions to the assigned Philadelphia police detective Jon Deminsky.
That incldued Van Wyk telling Deminsky that Tornetta refused to disperse from the parking lot, was verbally combative, that Tornetta punched one of the horses twice, struck Van Wyk in the face and attempted to flee the scene. It also says some details — including that Van Wyk, Tinneny and other officers only administered a "control hold" and failed to mention the use of a baton to injure Tornetta.
Tornetta is accusing both Van Wyk and Tinneny of intentionally withholding information, falsifying facts and providing statements that were contradicted by videos of the event.
7. Poor training
The Eagles are part of the lawsuit as the complaint accuses the franchise of not properly training hired, contracted or retained security personnel. The complaint says the Eagles did not sufficiently train "in the use of force continuum and the prevention of unjustified use of force and false imprisonment."
Zack Rosenblatt | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
8. Social Media
Part of Tornetta's complaint includes claims that the direct result of everything he was, he says, falsely accused of included news and media coverage demonizing him for the alleged assualt on the horse and police officers.
An Eagles fan who allegedly punched a horse before the NFC Championship Game in January is in the process of suing the team, a Philadelphia Police Department officer and a Pennsylvania state trooper, claiming he was actually the victim.
The main figures in the lawsuit include Andrew Tornetta, the 20-year-old alleged horse-puncher; Wesley Van Wyk, a Pennsylvania State Trooper; Paul Tinneny, a Philadelphia police officer; and the Eagles organization.
Tornetta, the plaintiff, is leveying some serious accusations against that group, and NJ Advance Media took a look through the official complaint filed this week and found a number of interesting items.
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