Lawsuit targets Marshall County officers

A federal lawsuit against Marshall County Sheriff Thomas Chamberlin and three of his deputies alleges several run-ins with a Plymouth family, including a claim that officers barged in with guns drawn but without a search warrant a little more than a year ago.

The recently filed lawsuit describes “a history and pattern of abuses” aimed at Gregory and Kimberly Shortt and her daughter, Constance Bradley, who live on Twelfth Road. In addition to the sheriff, the lawsuit names three deputies as defendants: Jonathon Bryant, Joseph Giordano and Jordan Rans.

The Shortt family declined comment through their South Bend attorney, Bradley Colborn. Chamberlin and the attorney who has filed an appearance for the sheriff’s department, Ronald Semler, did not respond to requests for comment.

The documents describe these events:

Kimberly Shortt is also the mother of Zachary Bradley, in his 20s, who had “a history of minor criminal violations and involvement with local law enforcement” leading up to Nov. 4, 2013. He was released from prison in March 2013 on probation. A warrant was issued against him for a probation violation in July 2013.

Although he no longer lived at home, once the Shortts learned of the warrant in early fall 2013, they encouraged him to turn himself in, the documents say. On Nov. 3, a Sunday, Zachary Bradley’s girlfriend contacted the Shortts to tell them she was taking him to the hospital because he had ingested too much prescription medication.

The next morning, Kimberly Shortt began to shower on the first floor, and Constance Bradley was in her bedroom dressing. Zachary Bradley’s girlfriend had dropped by, as she often did, the lawsuit states. The other two women saw out the window several police officers — the three sheriff’s deputies and an Indiana State Police officer — outside the home. Before they could finish dressing, the three deputies barged through the front door, two with handguns and one with a shotgun.

The state police officer did not enter the home.

The lawsuit describes the women asking whether there was a warrant and why the officers were there, and the officers’ responses were filled with expletives but did not answer the question. The women were forced to the floor and handcuffed.

“Kimberly Shortt managed to put her pants on and got face down on the bedroom floor just before Mr. Bryant burst through the bedroom door. (She) saw Mr. Bryant approach her, pointing his shotgun at her face while she lay on the floor with her hands out in front of her,” the lawsuit says.   

Eventually, Rans told her someone at the hospital called police, saying Zachary had left the hospital and there was concern for his well-being. 

When Gregory Shortt arrived home from work, police told him their suspicion that Zachary was in the attic. They allowed him to try to talk him into surrendering, and the young man surrendered and was arrested. The plaintiffs did not know he was there, and they were never charged with a crime, the lawsuit notes.

A tort claim notice was filed in March related to the Nov. 4, 2013, incident. But on July 5 this year, the documents say, officers “arrived at the home at night and entered the backyard and conducted a search of the property and vehicles present.” Gregory Shortt confronted the officers and demanded they leave the property because they had no warrant. 

The family has suffered ongoing medical, psychological and financial damages, the lawsuit alleges, and “continue to live in fear of continued reprisals from the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department.”

The lawsuit does not say what happened to Zachary Bradley after his Nov. 4, 2013, arrest, but he is not listed in the online databases for Indiana’s prison system or the Marshall County Jail.

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