Officers sue over 'lies' in Bisard case

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Three police officers are taking their bosses and the city to court. They say the mayor, public safety director, and chief of police lied about them and ruined their reputations.

All three officers were demoted and blamed for the botched investigation of officer David Bisard.

Bisard was speeding in his squad car when he killed one motorcyclist and injured two others on Aug. 6, 2010. Two weeks later, on Aug. 21, public safety director Frank Straub demoted three top cops: Assistant Chief Darryl Pierce, Deputy Chief Ron Hicks and Homeland Security Commander John Conley.

"This was a failure in leadership at the time of the accident and subsequent investigation," Straub said of the three officers.

Now those three demoted officers are taking their bosses to court, echoing the very words of the department leaders who demoted them.

"This lawsuit is about failed leadership. It’s about the failed leadership of the mayor, the public safety director and the chief of police," said Robert Turner, Pierce's attorney.

Darryl Pierce said he, Conley and Hicks were "thrown under the bus," by a boss who wanted to take the heat off himself.

• ONLINE EXTRA | Read the court document

Pierce claims Straub lied when he criticized the three officers by saying, "There was a failure to communicate the gravity of the situation up the chain of command."

Pierce hotly disputes that claim, saying phone records prove he called the IMPD Chief of Police Paul Ciesielski from the accident scene eight times in an hour.

"We were talking about what was going on at that scene and what was being done to make sure it was investigated well. And during one of those phone calls, he reminded me not to be late to the one o'clock meeting that he called to be in his office," Pierce said.

He said the chief forced him to leave the accident scene to attend a meeting about improving the public safety director's image.

"We were in that meeting for about two hours talking about support for the public safety director. Not one time did he inquire about any updates about the accident," Pierce said.

And that, Pierce said, reflects a failure of leadership on the chief’s part, not his.

The officers claim the official Bisard investigation report released by IMPD is a sham.

They're demanding to see the report done by the FBI, which they believe likely vindicates them.

So how much money are the officers asking for in the suit? They won't say.

But Pierce does say he wants department leaders to admit the demoted officers did nothing wrong.

We asked the public safety director for comment. So far, we've not heard from him.