Back in 2011, Cheryl McCarty was driving her three grandchildren to school when Southfield, Michigan Police Officer Keith Birberick pulled her over. Officer Birberick alleges that McCarty had illegally passed a school bus.

"She argued with him, claimed there had been no school bus, accused him of racism, and refused to accept the ticket, letting it instead drop on the ground," says the appeals ruling issued Friday. "Officer Birberick returned to his patrol car—a large SUV—and drove away. "But McCarty, who had turned off her ignition but not her headlights, had accidentally drained her car battery and could not restart her car."

McCarty came back a short while later and then allegedly drive up behind her car and hit it so hard from behind that it sent the car with Cheryl McCarty and her grandchildren into a busy intersection.

Birberick "waited for traffic to clear and then got out of his car and approached (McCarty's) car yelling that he could have 'killed them and it would have been his fault.'" the filing says. Birberick got "back in his car and rammed (McCarty) a second time" pushing it "into a nearby gas station narrowly missing oncoming motorists and a row of gas pumps ... " The officer then left the scene without a word to McCarty.

McCarty said she went to complain and surprisingly, Officer Birberick’s dash cam footage had been destroyed. Obviously lawsuits were filed by McCarty and subsequently, Officer Birberick filed a claim that since he’s a police officer he is afforded immunity from civil lawsuits. No, you aren’t, says the U.S. Appeals Court:

The federal court last week said Southfield Officer Keith Birberick has no immunity in the lawsuit filed by Cheryl McCarty. In a 3-0 decision, the court said the officer’s actions “shock the conscience” and would qualify as “criminal behavior” if committed by an ordinary citizen.

Officers of the law should know, better than anybody else, that bad judgement and a lack of impulse control will frequently lead to serious consequences.