A family from Arizona in the United States went through a terrifying experience outside a department store in Phoenix when some police officers threatened to shoot the family after their four-year-old daughter had taken a doll off a shelf from the store.
This lead to the couple filing a lawsuit against the city of Phoenix and its police department for $10 million.
According to reports, Dravon Ames (22), his fiancé Iesha Harper (24), and their two children, Island (4) and London (1) had visited a Family Dollar Store on May 29, where their four-year-old had taken a doll without telling her parents, reports Washington Post.
After moving out of the store, the family was driving to the babysitter's house with a police car following them at a distance.
When they stopped outside the building, the cops car also pulled up alongside them, the police officers got out with their weapons and forcefully opened the door on Ames' side and pulled him out.
While threatening Ames, one of the officers had said, "I'm going to put a cap in your a--." He added, "I'm going to shoot you in your f------ face."
The police officers had violated protocol since they were required to wear body cams but neither of the officers were wearing any. The events were recalled in a claim filed by former state Attorney General Thomas Horne, who is representing them.
The claim went on to state that the police officer pushed Ames against the car, forced him to spread his legs and even went on to kick him hard on the back of the right knee. Ames almost fell because of the pain but he was dragged up and was punched in the back. Ames was then handcuffed and pushed into the patrol.
A pregnant Harper and her two children were still in the car. The officer forced her out of the vehicle and she was still holding one-year-old London. They asked her to place the child on the ground but she refused since London could not walk yet and the ground consisted of hot pavement, the claim stated.
Harper had managed to hand over London to a bystander before a police officer pushed her into the police car.
While Ames and Harper were not arrested, they were taken to the police station and were detained for quite a while.
The report went on to state that the couple is suing the city of Phoenix and its police department for the acts by the police officers when they "committed battery, unlawful imprisonment, false arrest, infliction of emotional distress, and violation of civil rights under the fifth and 14th amendments of the United States Constitution."
