When a simple seat belt violation quickly turned into a vicious encounter for an Indiana couple last month, both said they feared for their life. On Tuesday they announced that they are suing the Hammond Police Department.
“I felt like my Civil Rights were thrown out the window along with my body,” Jamal Jones said. He was in the passenger seat when his girlfriend, Lisa Mahone, was pulled over for not wearing her seat belt on Sept. 25.
Jones and Mahone filed a federal lawsuit, alleging that two Hammond officers used excessive force during the stop. It also accuses the officers of battery, emotional distress and making a false arrest. Their two children, Joseph, 14, and JaNiya, 8, were in the backseat during the incident.
Officers placed spike strips underneath their tires as soon as she pulled over. Mahone was told that she was not wearing her seat belt. The officer asked for her driver’s license and insurance, which she provided. She told him that they were headed to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital in Chicago because doctors had told them to come quickly. Mahone said her mother was on her deathbed. Without any explanation, the officer then requested to see Jones’ ID.
Hammond police said in a statement, “Police officers who make legal traffic stops are allowed to ask passengers inside of a stopped vehicle for identification and to request that they exit a stopped vehicle for the officer’s safety without a requirement of reasonable suspicion.”
However the couple’s attorney, Dana Kurtz, said that officers can ask for identification, but they can not tell you to step out of the car unless there is probable cause.
Unlike Mahone, Jones was wearing his seat belt. He explained to the officer that he didn’t have his ID on him because it was taken due to a pending court appearance on a ticket. From the moment communication between Jones and the officer began, the situation escalated.
Jones was told to write down his information on a piece of paper, but since he didn’t have any, he asked for some. Jones said the officer refused, which is why he offered to give him the ticket instead.
“I don’t know what’s going on…I never got out of a vehicle for being on the passenger’s side,” he is heard saying in a video that 14-year-old Joseph recorded.
Mahone had already dialed 911 by then and was requesting for a supervisor. Jones is told to step out of the vehicle, but they still don’t say that he is under arrest. As he looks for his ticket, he can be heard asking the officer for a “white shirt,” or supervisor. The officer calls him a derogatory name. When Jones finds his ticket, which was in a backpack in the backseat with the children, he attempts to hand it to the officer. The officer doesn’t take it. Both officers draw their guns.
Another officer orders Jones out of the vehicle one more time and when he declines, the officer uses some kind of crowbar-like object to shatter the glass and swiftly stick a taser into the window. Jones is tased twice and dragged out of the vehicle. He is then arrested and charged with resisting arrest and refusal to aid an officer. He was never cited for not wearing a seat belt.
Thanks to Joseph recording the altercation, Kurtz, said that the evidence makes their case even stronger.
“They give no explanation, they never tell him you’re under arrest, they never tell him he’s being cited for anything,” Kurtz said.
“Thank goodness Joseph took video because the video stands for itself that these police officers engaged in excessive force and were completely unreasonable,” she said. “There was absolutely no basis to engage in the conduct that they did or to arrest Jamal.”
JaNiya, 8, can be heard crying in the video. Her mother said the girl experienced emotional stress that still affects her.
“She’s the one who took it the hardest,” Mahone said. “The teachers are telling me that she’s not paying attention anymore and it all started from that point, on that day.”
With the number of recent national incidents involving African Americans and police officers, Kurtz said the family hopes this lawsuit impels people to ensure that law enforcement actually abide by the oath they take, to serve and protect.
“The family in this case has filed this lawsuit because they want to make sure that not only officers with the Hammond Police Department, but officers all around this country understand that you can not engage in this type of conduct and terrorize American families, including small children,” Kurtz said.
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