The suit alleges unreasonable search and seizure and due process violations and asks for in excess of $75,000 and a jury trial. The suit was filed in Columbus on March 1 and transferred March 24 to Dayton’s District Court.
Attorney William Eadie of Cleveland-based Spangenberg Law Firm said a separate administrative process (Bivens claims) is taking place in which the federal government will review the case and decide whether to offer compensation.
“Our hope is this is a case that the government will recognize this should never have happened,” Eadie said. “This isn’t how they should approach policing. And that it’s appropriate to provide compensation for what they put this family through, which was pretty traumatic for them at the time.”
WPAFB Director of Public Affairs Marie Vanover said Friday she knows the suit has been filed, but it is the base’s policy not to comment on pending litigation.
During what Air Force officials called a “high-risk felony stop, four police officers including three in military fatigues drew their guns on the Hill family’s blue Honda Odyssey as they headed out of the museum parking lot at 3:40 p.m. on April 4, 2014.
Wendy Hill’s grandchildren, Aaron and Brooke, then 8 and 5 years old, had walked back to the vehicle. On the way, a couple family members looked at different out-of-state license plates. That led to a 911 call from a suspicious onlooker who said a family was checking out car doors to see if they were open.
Alice Hill and Wendy Hill said they were both handcuffed and ordered to their knees on concrete for 20 minutes as the children screamed in fear. The Hills spent another 40 minutes in police vehicles.
“I felt like I was in Mexico, or someplace third world . . where they force someone to their knees before they shoot them in the back of the head,” Alice said after the incident.
The first amended complaint filed Friday said Brooke asked her mother, “Is Baba (grandma) going to get shot?” and that both children were “scared and confused” and needed counseling.
WPAFB security officials said the incident was a misunderstanding because they thought the Hill family was riding in a stolen vehicle. That was based on the first seven digits of the Vehicle Identification Number matching a stolen trailer in Colorado, according to the complaint.
The amended complaint lists five or more John/Jane Does and Staff Sgt. Kyle Brophy, Officer Nicholas Smith, Master Sgt. Ronnie Lewis Jr., Senior Airman Andrew Cockerham, Staff Sgt. Marco Chaparro and Officer Jonathan Vance as defendants. The original complaint listed some officers known only as “Bulldog” and “Bravo 1” and “Bravo 2.”
No court date has been announced.
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