By Megan Guza
The Pittsburgh Times
PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh police officer was arrested Sunday afternoon after he allegedly handcuffed and shackled a woman with whom he lived when she wouldn’t stop tickling him, according to court documents.
Rachmiel Gallman, 31, is charged with false imprisonment, court records show. He was arrested and charged shortly before 2:30 p.m. after Zone 5 officers responded to a call regarding a domestic incident at his Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar home.
According to the criminal complaint, the woman told police she and her son had been wrestling and tickling each other, while Gallman sat by and laughed. She told police she began poking Gallman in the abdomen.
“He told her to stop or he would put her in handcuffs, and she continued poking him for a couple more minutes,” police wrote in the complaint.
Gallman allegedly went to his car, came back with shackles and handcuffs and wrestled the woman to the ground, according to the complaint. He then shackled her legs and handcuffed her right arm to the shackles.
“She then asked him to uncuff her and he refused,” police wrote. “He said that this is her punishment. She said she begged again to unlock the cuffs to which he refused.”
He released her after she called police, telling her to leave their infant and pack up her belongings and leave, according to the complaint. She called police again to tell them not to respond, but officers responded to the home anyway, police wrote.
The woman alleged that Gallman told her that he was a police officer and she was a felon, and officers would not believe her story. She allegedly asked four or five times to be released over a 10- to 15-minute span.
Photos obtained from the phone of the woman’s son showed her shackled legs. Another photo showed her making an obscene gesture toward the camera.
It was not immediately clear whether Gallman was on duty at the time of his arrest.
“We have high standards and expectations pertaining to the conduct of all on-duty and off-duty Pittsburgh Police Officers,” Chief Scott Schubert said in a statement. “We take all complaints and allegations seriously. We will investigate and allow for due process.”
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 11.
©2018 The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.)