Fort Wayne officers’ excessive force countersuit bid rejected

A federal magistrate judge has rejected a bid by four Fort Wayne police officers to countersue a woman who accuses them of racial profiling and excessive force.

Keiona Harrison’s federal lawsuit alleges that the officers grabbed her, threw her over a car, handcuffed and later cavity-searched her in May 2017 after she noticed her cousin under arrest outside a pharmacy.

Harrison, who is an Allen County probation officer, contends the officers violated her constitutional rights.

The officers filed paperwork in April requesting to file a counterclaim arguing that Harrison slandered and defamed them in her lawsuit.

But the Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne reported a federal magistrate judge recently denied their request. He found they had missed a February deadline to amend claims filed with the court and didn’t provide sufficient reasons to change the deadline.