Attorneys acting on behalf of city and county law enforcement officials asked that a two-year-old civil lawsuit for excessive force be dismissed with prejudice, during a preliminary objection hearing Wednesday, Jan. 7, at Butler County Courthouse.

Deborah Riemenschneider, of Butler, filed her initial lawsuit in October 2023, accusing officer Nathan Shulick of the Butler City Police Department of applying excessive force by knocking her to the ground before kneeling on her back and handcuffing her. The incident occurred in October 2021, when Riemenschneider — 61 years old at the time — was arrested along with two others in a drug bust at Chestnut Street in Butler.

In her initial complaint, Riemenschneider also accused Shulick of violating her Fourth, Eighth and 14th Amendment rights. The complaint names four other law enforcement officials — Justin Hovancik, Douglas Brink, Timothy Fennell and John Johnson — for “failing to protect” Riemenschneider from harm.

Since then, Riemenschneider has refiled or amended the complaint four times. The most recent amended complaint, filed in September 2025, also includes a Monell claim against the City of Butler, accusing it of having a policy of encouraging excessive force. A Monell claim allows an individual to sue an entire government institution for violation of civil rights.

The most recent incarnation of the complaint, filed Sept. 8, 2025, includes three counts. Each count includes a demand for a judgment of at least $50,000.

Attorney Rebecca Black, acting on behalf of Hovancik, criticized how long the case had dragged out while also calling the series of complaints against her client vague and confusing.

“This has gone through so many arguments and pleadings,” Black said. “I can’t tell whether Justin is alleged to have done anything at all. By just saying that all defendants collectively failed (to protect the plaintiff), we can’t form a response.”

In addition to a dismissal with prejudice, Black also requested sanctions against plaintiff’s counsel.

The Butler Eagle reported in May 2025 that Riemenschneider would file a motion to dismiss all but one defendant. However, the fourth amended complaint, made in September, included the names of all defendants from the original 2023 complaint.

“The plaintiff has not gone through substantive steps to dismiss less than all parties,” Black said.

Officer Douglas Brink is named in the complaint. Brink’s attorney, Meghan Flowers, argued that Brink shouldn’t have been part of this in the first place, as no formal allegations have been made against him.

“Officer Brink has been wrongfully identified the entire time,” Flowers said. “He has never had facts pled against him.”

During the hearing, the plaintiff’s attorney, David Berlin of Weisberg Law, admitted to several clerical errors made over the course of the two-year case, including at least one instance in which a Butler County law enforcement official was misidentified as working for the City of Butler.

However, Berlin denied that sanctions were appropriate in this situation.

“We abided by the court’s instructions,” Berlin said. “We’ve operated in good faith. The motion for sanctions is improper.”

At one point, Common Pleas Judge Kelley Streib asked Berlin why there had been no action to remove four of the five the law enforcement officials from the suit. Berlin told her that the plaintiff’s representation had made this motion, but it must have failed to go through the system for whatever reason.

While no final decision was made by Judge Streib on Wednesday, she indicated that one would be made soon. She also stated that a separate hearing would be set for sanctions.