A Butte couple filed a federal lawsuit Friday against the police department and several officers claiming they violated their civil rights by allegedly falsely restraining and assaulting them.

Martin and Kellie Hicks claim on the evening of Sept. 7, 2006, at least six Butte police officers pointed guns at them, “manhandled” them, restrained them and searched their home at 2032 Locust St. without probable cause or search warrant.

The civil suit, which was filed by Butte attorney Patrick Fleming in Butte federal court, claims police didn’t find any contraband in the home and the couple wasn’t arrested. The police left the residence after the search “without so much as an apology or an explanation to Kellie or Martin as to why they had been singled out for such treatment,” according to the 15-page complaint.

The suit demands a jury trial and unspecified monetary damages.

The defendants named in the lawsuit include Sheriff John Walsh and officers Kent Fargher, Jeff Williams, Rhonda Peterson, Ray Vaughn, Mark St. Pierre and 10 unidentified people.

Walsh didn’t return a phone message seeking comment Friday afternoon.

County Attorney Bob McCarthy said Friday that he wasn’t aware of the lawsuit, so he couldn’t comment on it.

“We get things (lawsuits) like this all the time,” McCarthy said after he was given a brief explanation of the civil suit.

Fleming, the lawyer for the Hicks, said when reached by phone Friday that he doesn’t comment on pending litigation.

The Hickses allege they received a call after 10 p.m. and a dispatcher ordered Martin Hicks to step outside because a police officer wanted to talk to him. When he went outside, the suit claims police pointed their guns on him, forced him to the ground, while he was “continually threatened and menaced by officers with drawn weapons.” Police did the same to his wife when she came to the door.

The couple said they feared for their two children who were sleeping inside the residence.

The lawsuit alleges that police didn’t tell the couple why this was happening.

The lawsuit claims eight causes of actions against the defendants. The police are accused of violating the couple’s Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures. The suit also accuses the defendants of negligence, false imprisonment, assault and inflicting emotional distress on the couple.

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