Civil trial begins in 2018 Kopy's brawl between undercover Pittsburgh police and Pagans

In clip after clip, the video showed the bartender at Kopy’s on the South Side pouring double and triple shots of Jack Daniels.

Over the course of four hours, based on the footage shown to the jury, Pittsburgh police undercover Det. David Honick had at least 20 shots.

But, he testified on Monday, he didn’t think he was intoxicated at the time.

Honick told the jury he was ordering single shots of Jack Daniels with ice that night.

“I wasn’t aware what she was pouring me,” he said of the bartender. “I can’t recall if I drank every single drop.”

After five hours of drinking, Honick and three other undercover detectives were involved in a brawl in the bar that led to the arrest of four members of the Pagans motorcycle club, as well as public criticism of the Pittsburgh police for allowing its undercover officers to drink heavily while on the job.

Although the charges against the Pagans — including for aggravated assault, conspiracy and riot — were ultimately dismissed by the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office, the men all sued the undercover officers, including Honick, Brian Burgunder, Brian Martin and David Lincoln, as well as the City of Pittsburgh.

Three of the plaintiffs, Michael Zokaites, the estate of Erik Heitzenrater and Bruce Thomas settled their claims last week on the eve of trial. Zokaites got $100,001; Heitzenrater’s estate settled for $70,000, and Thomas settled last on Friday for $78,000, according to his attorney, Noah Geary.

Frank DeLuca, the man who was the most severely injured that night, is the only one whose case remains. DeLuca sued for excessive force, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and liability against the City of Pittsburgh for failing to have a policy in place to prevent undercover officers from drinking, which, he said, led to a violation of his constitutional rights.

His trial began Monday before U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon on Monday, with Honick on the stand for nearly an hour — after being called by DeLuca’s attorney, James DePasquale.

Most of his testimony revolved around his alcohol consumption that night.

Honick told the jury that he is 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighed 350 pounds on Oct. 11, 2018, the night of the brawl at Kopy’s. Honick admitted on the stand that, about two hours into the evening, it looked like the alcohol was affecting him. But at the time, he said, he didn’t think so.

Honick told the jury he wouldn’t have done anything differently.

“Do you normally drink to excess and carry a firearm?” DePasquale asked him.

“No, I do not,” Honick answered.

Honick also acknowledged that he drove an undercover police vehicle to the South Side that night and had planned to drive home. But he also noted that there was a detective in their office that night who could be used for transportation if necessary.

While the undercover officers started drinking around 7:30 p.m., DeLuca and his friends didn’t enter the bar until 11:41 p.m. The video from inside showed Honick staring at them as they walked by and sat further down the bar.

“I was looking at their jackets,” he said.

“Those guys didn’t say a word to you, did they?” DePasquale asked. “They never even looked at you, did they?”

“No,” Honick answered.

At a couple different points in the video, Honick shook hands with two of the Pagans and bought them shots.

But the images also showed Honick lifting his shirt to reveal his firearm in his waistband.

Those actions, DePasquale told the jury in his opening — limited to seven minutes by the judge — are what led to the brawl that night.

“It starts out with Honick fondling his firearm in his pants,” he said. “He keeps doing it.”

DeLuca, an electrician who had never been arrested before, reacted to that, the attorney said, and pushed Honick.

“He’s the kind of person the City of Pittsburgh police pledge to protect,” DePasquale said.

The officers never identified themselves as policemen that night, he said.

After DeLuca pushed Honick, DePasquale continued, Lincoln punched DeLuca 19 times in the face.

“Mr. DeLuca does not know these guys are police officers,” DePasquale said. “They’ll say ‘we told him we’re police officers.’ It’s nonsense.”

But Mike Comber, who represents Honick, said they knew.

“He ignored the attempts of officers to talk everyone down,” Comber said.

DeLuca, the attorney continued, was a vice president of the Pagans who was carrying a loaded gun that night.

“He started the fight because he didn’t want the police in his Pagan bar.”

After the brawl started, Comber said, it took more than two minutes for seven officers — both uniformed who had just arrived and the undercovers — to subdue DeLuca.

Honick, Comber said did not use excessive force that night. Instead, his attorney said, Honick only used force on DeLuca for 10 seconds because Honick was knocked to the ground and mistakenly pepper sprayed by other officers.

Anthony Hassey, who represents Burgunder in the case, said in his opening statement that there can be no liability in the case if there was probable cause for an arrest.

Further, he said that Burgunder only applied pressure under DeLuca’s chin, by pulling him by the hair and pressing him against the bar.

“They cannot meet their burden,” Hassey said.

Lincoln’s attorney, Albert Veverka, said his client was assaulted that night. Zokaites punched Lincoln in the back of the head three time, he told the jury. Lincoln also broke his finger and was pepper sprayed.

“Mr. Lincoln acted reasonably.”

Hillary Weaver, who gave an opening statement for the City of Pittsburgh, said that there was an alcohol use policy in place at the time, but that it’s impossible to cover every potential set of circumstances.

Undercover officers, she said, were given latitude to deviate from the policies to maintain their cover. And city leaders relied on officers’ training and common sense to guide them, Weaver said.

“You won’t hear any evidence the city was aware it needed additional policies,” she said.