New Alexandria man files suit against state police related to 2023 arrest

Two versions of the same incident have emerged in court papers filed by state police and a man they arrested in Unity two years ago.

In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Pittsburgh this month, Denton Krapf, 48, of New Alexandria claims that three state troopers used excessive force and violated his rights while investigating a suspicious-person complaint Jan. 30, 2023, on Glacier Drive.

Both court filings agree that police were called to that area of Unity around 8:30 p.m. for a report of a man wearing a T-shirt walking around yelling in the neighborhood. Krapf claimed in his lawsuit that he told the three troopers he was walking to Independence Health Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg to get help for a mental health issue when he said they took him into custody without justification.

Krapf reported being punched dozens of times, resulting in three broken ribs and skull injuries, according to the lawsuit. He also said police used a Taser on him.

A state police spokesman declined to comment on the pending litigation.

State police said in an affidavit of probable cause that Krapf was highly agitated and appeared to be under the influence of a controlled substance when he refused to stop yelling or leave the front yard of a Glacier Drive home. They tried to take him into custody for disorderly conduct.

The troopers reported Krapf resisted arrest and they held him down on the ground to get him handcuffed. A trooper had several broken bones in his right hand, according to court papers.

“We used control techniques and physical compliance strikes to gain control of the defendant as he actively resisted,” police wrote in arrest papers. “None of the control techniques or physical compliance strikes had any effect.”

Krapf was taken to the state police barracks in Greensburg and was charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness. There was no indication in police filings that he was taken to a hospital.

Krapf was arraigned the following morning and taken to the Westmoreland County Prison after failing to post $10,000 bail, according to online court records. He is not currently listed as an inmate at the jail. A defense motion to dismiss the charges was rejected by a judge in June.

During a hearing this week, the case was ordered to stay on the February trial list.

In addition to Pennsylvania State Police, the suit was filed against Cpl. Benjamin Eaken, Trooper Jacob Shearer and Trooper Gordon Matson.