An Allentown police officer chased down an armed robbery suspect last spring, stopping the man by firing his Taser and stunning him at least three times, according to court records.
Officer Ryan G. Alles wasn’t done there, authorities said. He kicked the suspect repeatedly in the left eye, the face and the ribs, they allege. The man lost consciousness, suffered vision loss and needed sutures to close a wound to his left eyebrow as a result of the June 12 beating, authorities said.
Six months later, Alles beat another suspect — this one handcuffed — at the end of a police pursuit, court records show. That man, suspected of driving a stolen car Dec. 18, suffered a head wound that needed staples to close, authorities said.
An internal investigation was launched, both victims gave statements and fellow officers said they saw Alles beat the suspects, according to authorities and court records.
Alles, 28, of Quakertown was charged Monday with two counts each of aggravated assault and simple assault. He was arraigned by District Judge Karen Devine and released on $50,000 unsecured bail.
Alles, a two-year veteran who worked the night shift as a patrolman, was fired Friday, Chief Joel Fitzgerald said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
“This is not representative of our department as a whole,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s not what we stand for as an organization.”
The use of force in both cases was not justified by police standards, he said.
“When making an arrest, we all know as veteran police officers that there are instances where we have to apply force,” Fitzgerald said. “We have rules for escalation of force and this was not within those parameters.”
Alles was accused of using excessive force before Monday’s charges. In September, he and another Allentown police officer were named in a federal lawsuit that claims they used a Taser on a handcuffed man 14 times.
According to a criminal complaint against Alles filed Monday:
Alles was among several city police officers who responded to an armed robbery report at 2:20 a.m. June 12 near Nagle and Green streets. Police were told the robber was a male wearing a white hooded sweatshirt with horizontal stripes and dark pants.
Minutes after the call, Alles radioed he was in pursuit of a possible suspect, who didn’t fit the initial description. Robert Fontanez, who was wearing shorts and a tank top, was taken into custody and suffered several injuries to his face, head and arms during his arrest.
He was treated at Sacred Heart Hospital. Fontanez told investigators Alles used his Taser on him “at least three times,” and Alles then kicked him once in the left eye, four or five times in the head and twice in the ribs.
Fontanez was never charged in the armed robbery, but was charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, possession of a controlled substance and public drunkenness, Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said at the news conference. Those charges were later dismissed when Alles failed to show at a court hearing, Martin said.
Months later, at 5 a.m. Dec. 18, Allentown police officers were in pursuit of a possible stolen vehicle near Limestone and Chew streets. Raul Roman, driving the stolen vehicle, crashed near Front and Liberty streets and fled on foot.
Police caught Roman in a field near the former Neuweiler Brewery, and during his arrest, he suffered head injuries that required three staples to close.
Roman told investigators that after he was handcuffed, he was kicked in the head.
Other officers at the scene said they saw Alles punch a handcuffed Roman two or three times in the head and kick him.
Fitzgerald commended the police officers who “displayed the integrity to come forward and to make us aware of problems with one of our officers.”
“I’m proud of the officers who stepped forward,” Fitzgerald said. “There is no place for that type of activity.”
At a police awards ceremony last year, Alles received a commendation for merit for helping chase down a reckless driver.
In a federal lawsuit filed in September, Keith W. Anthony of Bethlehem claims he was repeatedly stunned with Tasers by officers who responded Nov. 1, 2013, to a report of a man in distress in the 800 block of Carey Street.
Richard Orloski, Anthony’s attorney, said his client was under his car trying to repair it when he suffered a seizure. The suit alleges officer Richard Seltzer used his Taser against Anthony and then placed him in handcuffs. While Anthony was in handcuffs, Alles arrived.
The suit alleges Seltzer and Alles tried to help emergency medical services medicate Anthony by using their Tasers to subdue him, a violation of a policy against using a Taser against a person who is handcuffed or in medical distress.
According to the suit, one or both of the officers used their Tasers against Anthony in an effort to control him while he was strapped to a stretcher in an ambulance. The officers used their Tasers against Anthony 14 times, the suit says.
Orloski said he was in federal court for a pretrial hearing on the lawsuit Monday morning and was unaware of the charges filed against Alles or that he had been fired from the police department. He said Alles’ attorney filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
Fitzgerald said he was unaware of that lawsuit.
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