A former teacher at Bradford Area High School is pursuing her against district officials and two police officers for an alleged search and detainment in 2016 — allegedly violating her civil rights.
The suit was filed in federal court in Erie in April by former social studies teacher Ann Nuzzo and her husband, Alex, against former school resource officer Mike Spencer, Police Chief Chris Lucco, Bradford High principal David Ray and Ken Coffman, who is listed as vice principal during the time of the alleged incident.
Nuzzo, represented by attorney Paul Susko of Erie, alleges that on April 7, 2016, Ray came to her classroom and told her to come with him to the administrative offices. She asked that her union representative be allowed to accompany her; Ray told her she wasn’t allowed to and that she needed to proceed to Coffman’s office. There, she was confronted by Lucco and Spencer, both of whom were in uniform and were armed, the complaint stated.
The officers told her students had accused her of videotaping them without permission and demanded to see her iPad. She told them she didn’t know where it was at the time. However, the officers continued to ask her for it, telling her “this will be all over” if she told them the location of the iPad, or if she provided it to them. She told them again she didn’t know where it was located, the complaint alleged.
While Nuzzo was being questioned, her classroom was being searched. The iPad was not found. Lucco and Spencer told her she was facing felony charges, which frightened her and she started to become ill. She went to the restroom across the hall, and the officers were knocking on the door telling her she had to come out, that she was being detained. The officers unlocked the door and sent the female school nurse in after her, and ordered her out of the bathroom, the complaint read.
They told her she had to stay in Coffman’s office, and gave her a wastebasket in case she got sick. She continued to feel ill and began to grow sicker, the suit stated. The police continued to ask her to tell them where the iPad was; she continued to tell them she didn’t know. She gave them her car keys so they could check her vehicle; the iPad was not there either.
Nuzzo began to experience stomach pain and went to the restroom again. The officers unlocked the door and opened it while she was inside using the facilities, and left the door open so anyone in the hallway could see her, the suit alleged.
The nurse was again sent in to get her out of the room and returned her to Coffman’s office. The officers continued asking her about the iPad, and “would not relent … badgering her about the location of the iPad,” the suit alleged.
She began to feel dizzy and her extremities went numb. She started experiencing chest pain and breathing problems, and thought she was having a heart attack. She asked to go to the hospital or for the nurse; Spencer told her no, she was being detained, the complaint stated.
Nuzzo insisted she needed medical attention, left the room and walked across the street to the hospital, where she almost collapsed outside in the ambulance bay, the complaint alleged.
Spencer had followed her, and grabbed her as she was about to fall. Nuzzo was taken by hospital personnel into the emergency department, where medical staff began treating her. Nuzzo asked Spencer to leave; he did not, the suit stated.
The doctor had to ask the police to back off so he could treat Nuzzo, the suit alleged. Spencer obtained a search warrant, and Luzzo searched Nuzzo’s home. Alex Nuzzo went to the hospital, and Ann Nuzzo tried to give him some ideas of where the iPad might be to help the police. He went home and “eventually found the iPad in a laundry basket,” the complaint stated. He gave it to police, then drove his wife home from the hospital.
That evening, Ann Nuzzo received a call from police saying her iPad “and that there was nothing on it about her videotaping any students in her class,” and that she was cleared of all criminal charges and could pick up her iPad at the station, the complaint alleged.
Police had confiscated and searched her cellphone as well, without a warrant, the suit alleged.
She was unable to return to work the next day, and when she did try to return, wasn’t able to. She has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression as a result of the incident, the suit stated. Since then, she has been hospitalized on three occasions and continues to receive counseling and medical treatment.
The Nuzzos have sued for false arrest and false imprisonment, excessive force, denial of medical care, illegal search and seizure, conspiracy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
They are seeking a jury trial, asking for compensatory and punitive damages, along with attorneys fees and costs.
The Era reached out to four attorneys in the case for comment. Susko indicated he preferred the complaint to speak for itself and declined further comment.
Neal Devlin, an attorney for Ray and Coffman, declined to comment on pending litigation. No response was received from Patrick Carey, who is representing the two officers; or from Alexander Cox, co-counsel with Devlin.
