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Federal suit filed after IMPD officer strikes student outside of Shortridge HS

Federal suit filed after IMPD officer strikes student outside of Shortridge HS

Richard Essex | News 8 at 6 p.m.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A federal lawsuit has been filed and new video released of a police officer striking a student outside of Shortridge High School last week.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, lays out claims against three officers.

The suit seeks actual and compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney fees, litigation costs and “all other appropriate relief.”

One officer, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Officer Robert Lawson, is identified by name. Two other officers, employed by Indianapolis Public Schools, are not identified. A note in the suit states that their names have been requested from IPS but the school district has not revealed their names.

Lawson has been suspended without pay from IMPD. The police department said Saturday that it is conducting criminal and administrative investigations.

On Wednesday afternoon, IMPD referred an inquiry about the progress of its investigations to the city’s Office of Corporation Counsel, which provides legal services internally to city-county agencies and departments. Anne C. Harrigan, chief litigation counsel for the office, said in an email, “Out of respect for the judicial process, we do not comment on pending litigation. Thank you.”

The suit, filed by Kinnard & Scott on behalf of Danielle Pointer and two juvenile relatives, says not only did Lawson punch a minor outside of Shortridge High School on Aug. 29, but that he also placed the student in a headlock and struck the child in the abdomen with his knee.

According to the suit, one of the minors was jumped by students inside of the school. The other minor attempted to intervene. IPS police called IMPD for further assistance. One of the minors was sprayed with an “aerosol chemical agent,” according to the suit.

Pointer was called to the school, which was on lockdown by the time she arrived. The students were taken outside of the school. Pointer was upset at actions taken and that one of the student’s belongings weren’t allowed to be retrieved from his locker. She was also upset that school administrators “would not respond to her complaints regarding the police conduct,” according to the suit.

Shortly after that, Lawson can be heard on video threatening to make an arrest. Video shows Pointer walking away, one minor and Lawson coming face to face, then Lawson throwing a strike.

The suit says that one of the IPS officers ordered them to stop filming the altercation, then tried to seize a phone.

The suit also states that the minor who was struck was placed in handcuffs, then “unarrested.” The suit also states that Lawson lied in a police report when he said he delivered an “open palm” strike to the minor.