Pittsburgh Police Officers Face Federal Lawsuit Following Alleged Misidentification and False Arrest of Monitored Resident

Chiyeh Green is suing two Pittsburgh officers after being jailed for an assault despite wearing an electronic monitor that placed him miles away.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 9, 2026, 10:53 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from TribLIVE

Constitutional Challenge Filed Against Local Law Enforcement

An Allegheny County man has initiated a federal legal action against two members of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, alleging a series of constitutional violations stemming from a wrongful arrest. The plaintiff, Chiyeh Green, filed the complaint against Officers Brian Shelton and Joseph Giles following a July 2025 incident in the city’s South Side. According to the lawsuit, the officers willfully ignored exculpatory evidence and conducted a deficient investigation that resulted in Green’s unlawful detention for nearly a week.

Livestreamed Assault Evidence and Suspect Identification

The legal dispute originated from a physical altercation on Sydney Street that was recorded and broadcast live on Facebook. The footage depicted a man and a woman assaulting a victim, who later provided police with the woman’s identity. The victim suggested the male attacker was the father of the woman’s children and shared a Facebook profile for an individual named Sly Green. Officer Shelton alleged the profile image matched the person in the video, a claim the lawsuit now strongly disputes by asserting the only similarity between Green and the perpetrator was their race.

Electronic Monitoring Data Contradicts Arrest Affidavit

At the time of the arrest on July 24, 2025, Green was serving a term of probation that required him to wear a GPS enabled electronic ankle monitor. The lawsuit states that when officers arrived at Green's home to take him into custody, his probation officer was present and explicitly informed them of the house arrest status. Despite the ankle monitor data placing Green at his home, five miles away from the crime scene, the arrest proceeded. The complaint alleges that Officer Shelton intentionally omitted this tracking information from the affidavit of probable cause used to secure the charges.