Trooper who Killed 12 Year Old Black Boy in Trouble Again

A state trooper who was sued for shooting and killing a 12-year-old in Uniontown in 2002 has been sued again in federal court, this time by a man who was cited for making an obscene gesture.  Stephen B. Corey, 42, a US Airways flight attendant, said Trooper Samuel Nassan gave him an illegal $75 traffic citation after saying Corey gestured at him in traffic in Robinson last summer.  Neither Nassan nor his supervisor at the Pittsburgh barracks could be reached yesterday.  Corey said he was in his US Airways uniform and on his way to work June 25 when Nassan pulled him over on the Parkway West and cited him for following too closely and speeding.  After that, Corey said, Nassan told him, "I'm following you all the way to the airport."  Corey said he didn't argue but said, "Thank you, officer, have a nice day."  He said Nassan followed him for a while and then started to turn off onto Business Route 60. Corey said he then waved at the officer.  Four days later, he said, he received another citation in the mail for $75.  Corey said he "absolutely did not" make an obscene gesture. Even if he did, the trooper had no business citing him for it, said his lawyer, Joel Dresbold.  "It really doesn't matter if he did it or not," said Dresbold. "Either way it's an abuse of his constitutional rights."  Dresbold said making the gesture to police is protected free speech under the First Amendment.  The complaint comes at a time when Nassan is fighting a much more serious federal suit over the death of Michael Ellerbe. On Dec. 24, 2002, he shot the boy in the back after he and his partner, Trooper Juan Curry, pursued Ellerbe following a car chase in Uniontown. The troopers have been cleared of criminal wrongdoing by the U.S. Department of Justice. But the civil suit, filed by Ellerbe's father, Michael Hickenbottom, is pending. [more]