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Update: The two police officers involved in the controversial traffic stop arrest have been reinstated, according to a statment from Hammond mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. In his statement posted by the Chicago Tribune, McDermott said the FBI has "informed the Hammond Police Department that it has cleared the two officers involved in the Jones arrest to return to active duty. After this most recent communication from the FBI, the Hammond Police Department has placed them back on regular duty."
A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court accuses police in Hammond, Indiana, of "reckless indifference" and "malice" for breaking a car window and using a stun gun during a recent traffic stop.
According to the Associated Press and Chicago Tribune, officers stopped Lisa Mahone, 47, for not wearing a seat belt on Sept. 24. Police also asked passenger Jamal Jones for identification, which he did not have because he had been ticketed for not paying his insurance, the lawsuit says. When Jones reached into the back seat to grab the ticket, police broke the passenger window – spraying Mahone, Jones and two children in the back seat – and shocked Jones with a stun gun, according to the lawsuit. Jones was arrested on charges of resisting law enforcement and refusing to aid an officer.
Mahone's 14-year-old son, who was in the back seat, recorded the incident with his cellphone. That video went viral Tuesday.
The lawsuit claims the officers' actions "were taken intentionally with malice, willfulness, and reckless indifference to the rights and safety of plaintiffs."
Hammond police said officers were concerned for their safety "when the passenger displayed movements inside of the stopped vehicle that included placing his hand in places where the officer could not see," the Chicago Tribune reported.
CNN reports that Jamal Jones faces an arrest warrant for a 2007 marijuana dealing charge. The attorney for Jones claims the warrant for the misdemeanor charge is "retaliation" for Jones and his partner Lisa Mahone filing a lawsuit against the Hammond Police Department.
According to FBI records, Mahone was indicted in 2011 for possession with the intent to distribute cocaine. She pleaded guilty in 2012 and was sentenced to 16 months in prison, along with 3 years of supervised release, according to the NorthWest Indiana Gazette. She was reportedly still on supervised release at the time of the traffic stop, but it is not known if the police officers involved in the incident knew of her record.
