Two Vicksburg brothers are suing Claiborne County, its sheriff’s department and Sheriff Frank Davis for damages, alleging they were injured by “excessive force” and held in jail until their brother, who had felony charges against him there, turned himself in. A money amount is not mentioned.

Joseph and Wesley Rader, 103 Cross Drive, claim “gross deprivation of their civil rights” resulting from being arrested without cause and subjected to unreasonable search and seizure by Claiborne County deputies in Warren County early on July 12, 2009. Their father, Fred Rader Sr., also is a plaintiff in the case.

The four-count lawsuit, filed in Warren County Circuit Court by Vicksburg attorney James “Buck” Penley, charges excessive force under color of law, assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment.

Reached Monday, Davis said he had no comment. The suit had only recently been served and was turned over to the county’s insurance agents for a defense lawyer to be assigned, Davis said. He did not know who will represent him, the department or Claiborne County, he said.

Penley said the suit “speaks for itself.”

Though the brothers were initially stopped by a Warren County deputy, its officials were not included in the suit.

The complaint outlined the sequence of events that took place in the early morning hours. It says Joseph Rader was notified his car had been abandoned on Jeff Davis Road, about six miles from their home. Joseph and Wesley Rader went to retrieve it with Fred Rader Sr. following in another car.

They repaired a flat tire and while on their way home were stopped by Warren County deputies at Redbone Road. The vehicle was searched but “failed to reveal any evidence of any criminal act,” the suit states.

The suit claims that Warren County deputies contacted Claiborne County authorities for unspecified reasons. When those deputies arrived, it states, they handcuffed Joseph and Wesley Rader and took them to the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Department, holding them without charging them until Joseph Rader’s brother, Freddie Rader, appeared to face unspecified charges.

Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said his records indicate Claiborne County deputies were called that night because they had issued a “be on the lookout for” bulletin for a car similar to the one the Raders were driving. The car had been identified at the scene of a Claiborne County shooting, he said.

Records of the stop indicate that Claiborne County deputies intended to impound the car, Pace said, and its two occupants rode back to Port Gibson with the Claiborne County deputy.

Pace said it is not unusual for law enforcement officials in neighboring counties to cooperate in such investigations.

The suit does not specify how long the Raders were held, but Penley said it was several hours.

Similar complaints of “abuse, excessive force and/or wrongful imprisonment” previously had been made against deputies there, the suit alleges.

“If properly trained, every officer … would have known of the illegality of the defendants’ conduct on the date in question and the plaintiff’s wrongful imprisonment,” it states.

The U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable search and seizure and requires arrest warrants to be supported by probable cause.

In Mississippi, a landmark 1969 ruling, Davis vs. Mississippi, which went to the U.S. Supreme Court, held that the Fourth Amendment applies to involuntary detention of people during investigations as well as after accusations have been formally made.

Penley said the Claiborne County charge against Freddie Rader was a felony, but he was not sure of the exact charge. A spokesman with the Circuit Court Clerk’s Office could not confirm if he’d been convicted of a crime there.

Freddie Rader, 43, had been convicted on sale of cocaine in Warren County in 2003, and last month was found guilty of violating probation from that case and sentenced to three years in prison.

Another member of the family, Adam Rader, 27, was sentenced on June 11 to 20 years in prison for manslaughter after pleading guilty to the April 12, 2009, shooting of Danny Miller, who was 25.