A simple traffic stop for an unworn seat belt turned into a nightmare for a family on their way to visit a sick loved one in the hospital, after police officers drew their guns, smashed a window and used a Taser on an unarmed passenger. According to a lawsuit filed this week, Lisa Mahone of Indiana was pulled over by police officers in Hammond, Indiana while en route to an Illinois hospital to visit her ailing mother. Soon after the stop, Mahone says police laid out spike strips in front of her car. Officers then order Mahone’s boyfriend, Jamal Jones who was sitting in the passenger seat to get out of the vehicle. In cell phone video captured by a terrified 14-year-old sitting in the back seat of Mahone’s car, you can hear Mahone on the line with a 911 operator saying that she fears for her life and that moments earlier officers had pulled their guns on the couple. “I’m scared for my life,” Mahone is heard telling the operator. “He just pulled a gun on us and we don’t have a gun.” Jones refused to exit the vehicle because he feared for his safety, according to the lawsuit filed on Monday. An officer is then seen in the video smashing through the passenger side window with what appears to be a night stick and shocking Jones with a Taser. Jones is seen writhing in pain as he’s dragged from the car, placed on the ground and shocked again. Joseph Ivy, the teenager who shot the video, and his little sister, Janiya, 7, were reportedly injured by spraying glass, according to the complaint. In the aftermath of the arrest, the younger passengers can be heard sobbing. “He was never told he was being arrested and he was never told why they were ordering him out of the car or asking him to get out of the car,” attorney Dana Kurtz told NBC Chicago. “Thankfully Joseph videotaped it. I mean, what a great, smart 14-year-old to videotape this so there is actual evidence, and to be able to protect them and other citizens from this kind of conduct.” The lawsuit claims that the two officers involved, Patrick Vicari and Charles Turner, both of whom are white, used excessive force, false arrest and battery against Jones, who is African-American. #lisamahone #policebrutality
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 11:41:20 +0000
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