2 officers sue IMPD, cite retaliation after they reported sergeant’s use of force
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Two Indianapolis law enforcement officers connected to a highly publicized excessive force case nearly a year ago are suing the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and Chief Randal Taylor.
Matthew Shores and Christopher Bibbey claim IMPD improperly retaliated against them for reporting an incident Sept. 24 on Monument Circle. The pair claim they reported Sgt. Eric Huxley’s use of force on a homeless man who was handcuffed.
Huxley was charged Oct. 12 with official misconduct, and battery resulting in moderate bodily injury. His case has a remote pretrial conference set for Oct. 26 in Marion Superior Court 23, though such hearings are often rescheduled.
Bodycam video appears to show Huxley stomping on the homeless man’s face. The police chief has said he learned of the incident on Oct. 6 and ordered an internal investigation, which led to Huxley being suspended with a recommendation for termination going to the IMPD Civilian Review Board. That board has not yet acted on the matter.
Shortly after Huxley was formally charged, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI said they’d started looking into the accusations against him. News 8 reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Thursday to learn the status of that investigation.
In the lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Indianapolis, Shores and Bibbey claim they were placed on administrative duty/leave, and were not permitted to work overtime, part-time employment or work any form of security duty.
The pair also claim in that lawsuit that they had to turn in their current police vehicles and were instead given “old vehicles that were not in good working order and were determined to be unsafe.”
“Also, their colleagues treated Plaintiffs with disdain and as being untrustworthy and disloyal,” the lawsuit says.
They are suing the department, the city government and IMPD’s chief for retaliation in violation of the Civil Rights Act and Indiana state law, fostering a hostile work environment, negligent supervision, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of monetary damages.
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