After a 4 year old took a doll to a store, a video shows the Phoenix police firing a gun at the parents

Deanna Paul, The Washington Post

published

3:34 pm PDT, Saturday 15 June 2019

A couple from Arizona sues the city of Phoenix and its police department for $ 10 million after capturing video footage of agents filming their weapons and threatening to shoot the family of four.

On May 29, Dravon Ames and her fiancé, Iesha Harper, went with their two children, London (1) and Island (4).

Unbeknownst to them, their 4-year-old took a doll to a family-friendly discount store that they had just visited, according to a notice of claim dated Wednesday, filed by the former Attorney General's office. State, Thomas Horne, who represents Ames and Harper.

A police patrol followed the couple's car and, once the family entered the caretaker's apartment, a police officer approached the vehicle with his firearm pulled and opened the door. of entry, said the file.

Despite the department's rules that require police officers to wear body jackets, the Phoenix officers did not wear them, the complaint added. But passers-by recorded the meeting in a video released this week.

"I'm going to put a cap in your a–," said an officer at Ames while a second policeman, whose weapon had also been fired and pointed at Ames, headed towards the car, according to the video. "I'm going to shoot you in the face ——."

Horne wrote that both statements were made in front of the couple's children, who were at the back of the vehicle.

The first officer took Ames, 22, out of the car, pushed his head into the sidewalk, handcuffed him and shouted that Ames would do better to follow the orders, according to the request. The officer threw Ames against the car, ordered him to spread his legs and "kicked him in the right leg so hard that the father collapsed". Then the officer dragged him in the air and punched him in the back, the complaint said.

Once Ames was handcuffed and inside the patrol car, the officers refocused their attention on Harper and the kids, according to the claim.

According to the claim, the two officers pointed their guns at Harper, a visibly 24-year-old pregnant woman, and her children.

"The first officer grabbed the mother and baby by the neck and tried to take it out of the mother's hand," the complaint said. "He told her to put the baby on the floor, which she did not want to do because the baby could not walk and the floor was a warm sidewalk."

The officer tried to snatch Harper's baby from him, the complaint said. Eventually, he threw Harper first on the face of the police car, then handcuffed him.

"I could have shot you in front of your kids ——", he said.

Since May 29, the 4-year-old has nightmares and wets the bed, and Ames, whose car has been impounded, drinks and has no means of transportation to work, said the incident.

Neither Ames nor Harper were arrested or convicted, although they were arrested by police, the Phoenix New Times reported.

The complaint alleged that the police had "committed acts of violence", illegal imprisonment, fraudulent arrests, emotional suffering and violations of civil rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the US Constitution. United. "

Horne told The Post that the city had 60 days to respond before filing a complaint.

The Phoenix Police Department did not return The Post's request for comment, but according to the Phoenix New Times, police told ABC15 that "the police officer who cursed, threatened and abused Ames is on a mission" non-police "."

In 2018, Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, was involved in a record number of shootings involving the police, a number nearly double that of 2017, according to Central AZ. The Phoenix officers were responsible for more than half of them.