Atty: Warrant issued for Ind. man tased during traffic stop

HAMMOND, Ind. - A warrant was issued Thursday for the arrest of a man who filed a federal lawsuit earlier this week accusing Hammond, Ind. police officers of excessive force during a traffic stop in which officers broke a car window and deployed a stun gun on him, his lawyer says.

Dana Kurtz, who represents Jamal Jones, issued a statement Thursday saying the warrant "is clearly retaliation" against her client.

Kurtz says the warrant was issued for a misdemeanor marijuana charge seven years ago and that Jones "was unaware of the warrant but will comply with the law."

The Hammond Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A cellphone video released earlier this week of the Sept. 24 incident shows Hammond police officers breaking a car window and then using a stun gun on Jones, who was a passenger in the car. Police had initially pulled the vehicle over because the driver, Jones' girlfriend, Lisa Mahone, wasn't wearing a seat belt.

The video of the incident, which was recorded by Mahone's 14-year-old son, shows officers demanding that Jones produce identification - something Jones says he did not have with him.

The video then shows an officer breaking the front passenger window with a club, with shards of glass showering the vehicle's four occupants, including Mahone's son and daughter in the back seat. An officer then shocked Jones with a stun gun.

Hammond police say Jones had refused to comply with orders to get out of the car and that officers were concerned for their safety after seeing him "repeatedly reach towards the rear seats of the vehicle."

They say Jones was arrested for failure to aid an officer and resisting law enforcement.

The lawsuit, which alleges excessive force, false arrest, assault and battery and other charges, seeks unspecified damages and also mentions that two of the officers had been sued in the past for excessive force or unlawful arrest.

Court records indicate an undisclosed settlement in one of the cases.