News Nearby: Bethel Park Man Sues Peters Township, Police Officer

A Bethel Park man this week has filed federal suit against and one of its police officers, alleging police misconduct.

According to federal court records, Steven Stiegel, who filed the suit Tuesday, said he was fox hunting with a friend, Nolan Majcher, on Jan. 30 on a piece of private property in North Strabane Township.

“The road where they parked is a dead end, several hundred yards away from any houses. Nolan Majcher was situated about 30 yards from his truck, scanning the woods, wearing hunting camouflage with his gun clearly visible,” court documents show.

Then, at about 11 p.m., they observed headlights coming down the road.

“The car was driven by Peters Township police Officer Matthew Russell Collins. Officer Collins did not identify himself as a police officer, but Nolan Majcher suspected that he might be associated with law enforcement because of his use of a spotlight.”

Majcher walked toward the car, his arms reportedly extended, “with his gun held in a vertical non-threatening position.”

That’s when a confrontation between the two men occurred, according to the records.

“Officer Collins then aggressively yelled, ‘Drop the weapon!’ and still did not identify himself as a police officer,” court records show.

The suit said Majcher complied with the officer’s request immediately, when the Collins again spoke up.

“’What the (expletive deleted) are you doing?’” court documents indicate the officer said.

That’s when—weaponless—Majcher reportedly held “both hands at shoulder height in order to signal his prone position.“

The man reportedly walked toward the car and office Collins so he “would no longer have to shout.”

That’s when court records show Collins again responded.

“Officer Collins yelled, again very aggressively, ‘Stay where you are or I’ll shoot you!’” the suit alleges.

That’s when Majcher explained that he and Stiegel were hunting, and that his friend was in the woods to the right of the officer.

“Officer Collins responded belligerently and inappropriately” as Majcher made his way to the officer’s vehicle, according to court records—with Collins training his gun on the man.

Stiegel walked out of the woods a little later, dropping his rifle.

But according to the suit, Collins “aggressively questioned and retained them, acted arrogantly and obnoxiously, and then left without issuing any sort of citation—because no laws were broken,” the suit indicates.

While the suit maintains that Steigel and Majcher were acting in accordance to the law, it claims Collins “was outside of the rubrics of the law. He illegally wielded a weapon against citizens and only their superior common sense prevented a catastrophe.”

The suit also alleges that Collins was in North Strabane at the time, which was out of his jurisdiction.

Stiegel said the incident caused him “physical manifestations and injury—and he had made a complaint to the t.

Editor's Note: To read the entire complain, click on the attached PDF file. Also included is the letter from the police chief.