Kristine Guerra

kristine.guerra@indystar.com

An Indiana man is suing the city of Hammond and two police officers accused of using excessive force when they arrested him during a routine traffic stop.

Jamal Jones accuses police officers Patrick Vicari and Charles Turner of excessive force, false arrest, assault and battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, according to a complaint filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.

A YouTube video shows the officers smashing the front passenger seat window of a car, sending shards of glass toward the direction of the driver and two children in the backseat. One of the officers then shot Jones, a passenger in the vehicle, with a stun gun and dragged him out of the car. A child's screams can be heard from the background.

According to the complaint, the vehicle was pulled over about 3:30 p.m. Sept. 24 near 169th Street and Cline Avenue in Hammond because the passengers were not wearing a seat belt. The driver, Lisa Mahone, gave the officers her ID and asked that the officers give her a ticket quickly because they were on their way to the hospital to see her dying mother.

The officers then asked for an ID from Jones, who was sitting in the front passenger seat. The suit says Jones told police he didn't have an ID but offered a ticket that shows his information. The officers refused to take it, the suit says.

According to a statement by the Hammond Police Department appearing on the website of the Chicago Tribune, officers asked Jones to write his information on a piece of paper and to get out of the car. Jones refused to get out even after several orders from police.

Officers also feared that Jones may have had a weapon in the car because he was repeatedly reaching toward the backseat, according to the statement from Lt. Richard Hoyla.

Hoyla couldn't be reached by The Indianapolis Star for comment Tuesday afternoon. Hammond is between Chicago and Gary, Ind.

The lawsuit, however, says that the officers had no reason to believe that anyone in the car was a threat and that Jones refused to get out of the car because he feared for his own safety.

Jones, who was taken to a medical facility, was arrested on charges of failure to aid an officer and resisting law enforcement. Documents said he was struck in the right shoulder when one of the officers smashed the window with a tool. He and Mahone also were both cited for not wearing seat belts, police said.

According to the statement from police, officers are allowed to ask drivers or passengers to get out of their cars during a traffic stop even if they're not suspected of a crime. Police said Jones' actions led officers to take him in custody.

The lawsuit alleges that Jones never resisted and the officers did not search the car for weapons.

Mahone and the two children, a 14-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl, also are plaintiffs in the suit. It's unclear how she and the children are related to Jones. Their attorney, Dana Kurtz, was not available for comment Tuesday afternoon.

The plaintiffs also are accusing the city of Hammond of failing to discipline Vicari or Turner despite a history of alleged use of excessive force against citizens. The complaint sites three similar lawsuits against Vicari, one of which has been dismissed, and one against Turner, which also has been dismissed.

No attorney is listed for the defendants.

Contact Star reporter Kristine Guerra at (317) 444-6209. Follow her on Twitter: @kristine_guerra.