Pinnacle Armor, Inc. v. U.S. Hearing

Contact: George Gingo
(559) 284-7424

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PINNACLE ARMOR FILES IN FEDERAL COURT AGAINST THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE

Fresno, CA (November 16, 2007) -- Pinnacle Armor, Inc., a Fresno, California based corporation, filed suit today in federal court against the United States Department of Justice and the National Institute of Justice. Pinnacle Armor is the maker of the revolutionary body armor known as "Dragon Skin®".

1. The government administers a program whereby law enforcement agencies can apply for federal funds to offset the costs of body armor by up to 50%. Pinnacle Armor's vests can cost up to $6,000 a piece depending upon the amount of coverage and threat resistance, and are considered by a vast majority of ballistics experts to be far superior to any other bullet resistant vests.
   
2. In December, 2006, the government determined that Pinnacle Armor's Dragon Skin vest met the government standards for law enforcement approved bullet resistant vests. This approval now permitted law enforcement agencies to purchase Pinnacle Armor's vests with up to 50% of the cost of the vest paid by the federal government.
   
3. Pinnacle Armor is a small company, employing about 50 workers. The U.S. Army buys hundreds of millions of dollars of bullet resistant vests from Pinnacle Armor's competitors, which are large corporate entities. In early 2007, Pinnacle Armor attempted to sell its vests to the Army, but encountered extreme resistance at the highest levels of the Army. In June, 2007, the National Institute of Justice revoked Pinnacle Armor's approval to participate in the federal government bullet resistant vest cost offset program, claiming that they received information from the Army that raised concerns about how well the body armor would fare over its six-year warranty. The government's public releases also implied that the Pinnacle Armor body armor was dangerous to use.
   
4. In order to attempt to defend their body armor's superiority, Pinnacle Armor asked the National Institute of Justice for the information that the Army gave them. However, they have refused to provide that information to Pinnacle.
   
5. Pinnacle Armor contends that the National Institute of Justice is holding Pinnacle Armor to a higher standard than other body armor manufacturer's, and that this is a secret standard that should be made known to Pinnacle Armor so they may defend against it.
   
6. Pinnacle Armor is not currently seeking monetary damages. Instead, it is seeking declaratory relief and injunctive that would require the National Institute of Justice and the Department of Justice to hold Pinnacle Armor to the exact same standards as all other body armor manufacturers are held. And, to require retractions of the defamatory statements made regarding the Dragon Skin body armor.
   
7. On August 6, 2007, Mr. Caplan, the Director of the National Institute of Justice has admitted "Dragon Skin, has not failed any NIJ testing protocol as of this date."
   

Hearing Exhibits Available For Download Here.