KENSINGTON — In an explosive federal lawsuit two Kensington residents have alleged years of abuse by police in this affluent, unincorporated town, including a charge that the current police chief once asked for a child abuse complaint to be dropped “as a personal favor” and then placed a gun on a table and told the father, “this can end one of two ways.”

The father who had claimed child abuse, Fadi Saba, interpreted Chief Ricky Hull’s action as a threat on his life, the suit claims. Saba and his wife, Chih Lin, filed the suit last month, naming the town of Kensington and several officers as defendants.

The suit — only the latest round of allegations that have been leveled at Kensington officers in recent years — claims that over the next several years Saba was subjected to various forms of retaliation that ranged from feeding him marijuana-laced brownies to forcing a trespasser to sign a false statement saying Saba robbed him, leading to his arrest on false pretenses.

It also alleges that Saba had social interactions with some of the officers in the town of roughly 5,000, and that in one of them he was warned Hull had a grudge against him.

The suit refers to a January 2017 Kensington police news release identifying Saba as an armed robber as “defamatory.” After Saba’s arrest, Contra Costa prosecutors reviewed the case against him and declined to file charges, citing lack of evidence, according to records.

“Given the time of night, observed conduct of alleged victim, and recent burglaries in the area, suspect’s conduct was reasonable protection of his property,” deputy district attorney Brian Hast wrote in a letter declining to file charges. “(Saba) was the one who called police.”

The suit also claims the harassment increased with Hull’s appointment to interim police chief in 2016. Hull was appointed after a wave of scandals that started after a Kensington officer had his gun stolen by a prostitute in Reno, and led to the ouster of a police chief. Hull’s predecessor, Kevin Hart, resigned in October of 2016.

Neither Hull, nor multiple Kensington officials, responded to requests for comment on the suit. Kensington’s board president said she couldn’t comment on pending legal matters. Saba’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kensington and its police department have been largely in turmoil for the past three years since this news organization reported that then Detective Sgt. Keith Barrow’s gun, badge and ammunition were stolen by a Reno prostitute after a sexual encounter in a hotel room in 2014. The scandal cost former Police Chief Greg Harmon his job after residents reacted in an uproar when it was revealed that Barrow had received a light punishment.

An investigation by the Contra Costa Sheriff’s office later found the Kensington Police internal affairs investigation of the Barrow incident had serious flaws and was not based on professional standards.

Barrow and another officer, Manny Ramos, were later involved in a car stop of former Kensington Police Services District board member Vanessa Cordova in Berkeley. Cordova claimed she was pulled over in an attempt to intimidate her after she called for reforms in the small police department. The officers denied the allegation. Both were disciplined.

Other Kensington residents and former board members have also claimed local police harassed them in retaliation for criticizing the department and questioning police pay and benefits.

The February 2018 lawsuit alleges: