INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis family wants justice and accountability claiming they were racially profiled by a Fishers police officer.
This happened during an investigation into an alleged road rage incident. Now, the family is taking the first steps to sue the police department.
13News spoke with the family's attorney Monday night on the phone.
Attorney Faith Alvarez told 13News the family would like to see the officer involved in the traffic stop held accountable, but would not elaborate on what that looks like for her client who has already detailed the traffic stop in a Facebook post that went viral.
The April 21 post on Malcom Bunnell's Facebook page describes a traffic stop by the Fishers Police Department earlier that day.
"Just a few hours ago I was held at gun point in the middle of traffic by the Fishers Police Department," Bunnell wrote. "I was forced out of my car at gun point and placed in hand cuffs. They then forced my girlfriend out of the car at gunpoint and place her in hand cuffs. My 4 month old daughter was in the car."
Bunnell explained in the 20 minutes before the stop, he had pulled out of a Walmart parking lot on to 96th Street, trying to avoid a man who he said followed him there, after the man tried to start a fight with Bunnell while they were both in traffic.
According to Fishers police, Dustin Martin called them to report a fight in the parking lot with another person who was driving a white Cadillac Escalade and had a gun.
Bunnell was the person behind the wheel of that Escalade which Fishers police pulled over in what they called "a high-risk traffic stop," acknowledging that after officers searched the vehicle, they did not find a gun.
In his Facebook post, Bunnell writes after the stop, police officers told him, "Hey, you gotta see it from our point of view, he said you had a gun."
Fishers police say when they went back to question Martin in the Walmart parking lot, he was gone, despite their orders to stay put.
Bunnell's attorney said officers that day "were peacefully investigating a white man who had actually been harassing the family at the store." Alvarez went on to say, in a statement, "Upon learning that the family was Black, officers left the scene to stop the family with deadly force."
Fishers police say they later tracked Martin down, who is charged with resisting law enforcement and false informing.
His initial hearing was Monday.
In his Facebook post describing the traffic stop, Bunnell wrote that police let Martin "go on about his day, while they hunted me down in the middle of traffic." Bunnell called the traffic stop "a traumatic experience" for him and his family because of what he said was implicit bias by the officers that day.
Bunnell's attorney said she hopes to talk with city officials before deciding on filing the lawsuit.
13News reached out to the Fishers Police Department to ask questions on the status of the officers involved and if an internal investigation is taking place. The department responded with a statements saying, "As is common practice the Fishers Police Department does not provide comments on potential or pending litigation."