Lawsuit filed against bad-news Philadelphia cop

This article was originally posted 04/08/10.

Officer Thomas Schaffling emerged from a Tacony after-hours club just after 3 a.m. on March 26, allegedly muttering obscenities because he couldn't find his car.

Schaffling, who was off duty, was reportedly so drunk that he couldn't remember where he parked. Fortunately for two bar patrons whom Schaffling encountered on the street and allegedly threatened to kill, the officer couldn't shoot straight either, according to Paul Messing, an attorney representing the two men.

"He was just firing wildly," Messing said. "He seemed to be firing [bullets] all over the place and in their direction. It was just good fortune and Schaffling's state of intoxication that no one was killed."

One of the men, Richard Checchia, 29, suffered a graze wound under his arm and was treated at Aria Health's Frankford campus, Messing said.

Yesterday, Messing filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court on behalf of Checchia and Stanley Dawejko, 28, against Schaffling, Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and officers who responded to the shooting.

During his more than seven years on the force, Schaffling, 26, has amassed at least 14 citizen complaints, mostly for allegations of excessive force. He's also been at the center of several high-profile police calamities, including the Fox 29 videotaped beating of three shooting suspects; a baby-shower debacle in which officers allegedly used pepper spray and struck women and children; and the handcuffing and near-arrest of state Rep. Jewell Williams, D-North Philadelphia.

In each incident, citizens alleged that Schaffling brandished a gun or baton and threatened to "kill you mother f---ers" or "blow your f---ing head off." In the end, most citizens got locked up, while Schaffling escaped discipline.

This case seemed no different.

Checchia and his friend Dawejko had just left the Yik Yak club on Torresdale Avenue near Wellington Street. As they were about to get into Checchia's car, parked at Torresdale and Wellington, Schaffling ambled out of the club ranting, "Where the f--- is my car?" Messing said.

Frustrated, Schaffling allegedly then kicked and busted out a fog light on Checchia's car. When Checchia reacted angrily, the lawsuit says, Schaffling proclaimed he was a cop and threatened to kill them.

Late last month, a man who lives nearby and overheard the confrontation, told a Daily News reporter that he had heard someone yell: "You don't know who you're messing with. I could kill you."

Schaffling allegedly attacked Checchia. When Dawejko tried to intervene, Schaffling threw him to the ground, according to the lawsuit.

Checchia then went to help his friend and Schaffling allegedly fired his gun several times. A whizzing bullet nicked Checchia's arm.

Checchia and Dawejko told police who arrived at the scene that Schaffling had fired at them and later tossed his gun on the ground, according to their lawsuit.

Police, however, took no action against Schaffling, a member of an elite crime-fighting unit called "Strike Force South."

Instead, they arrested Checchia and Dawejko. Checchia was handcuffed to a hospital bed while treated for a graze wound. After his release, Checchia joined Dawejko in a police cell for about 18 hours. At some point, officers took Checchia back to the hospital when his ear started to bleed, possibly from the loud gunfire near his head, Messing said.

When police obtained a search warrant for Checchia's car, the stated reason was "assault on police," Messing said.

"I can't imagine they found anything in the car. I don't think there was anything to find," Messing said.

Neither man was charged. Neither has a criminal record.

Schaffling has been placed on desk duty, pending the outcome of a police investigation. He could not be reached for comment. He has said that Checchia and Dawejko attacked him first and that he feared for his life.

The lawsuit paints Schaffling as a poster child for a failed police disciplinary system.

The suit also characterizes Ramsey as "oblivious to the long-standing and ongoing problem of police misconduct" and "deliberately indifferent . . . to the safety and well-being of citizens and officers alike."

Ramsey and Chief Inspector Anthony DiLacqua, who heads the Internal Affairs Bureau, did not return phone calls from the Daily News. Police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore said that the department had no comment, citing the open internal investigation and the pending lawsuit.

Last June, Messing asked Ramsey during a deposition in the baby-shower case, "Knowing what you know of Officer Schaffling's history and the complaints that have been filed against him and the incidents in which he's been involved, do you have any concerns about him being on duty as a Philadelphia police officer today?"

"No," Ramsey replied.