Just when you think the Ferguson police department couldn’t come under any more negative scrutiny, more information surfaces about their police force. This week, the Huffington Post reports, Ferguson police officers Justin Cosma and Richard Carter are involved in a lawsuit that alleges they hog-tied and choked an innocent 12 year old boy.

The lawsuit was filed in 2012 at Missouri federal court. It claims the officers walked up to the 12 year old boy as he was checking the mail at the end of his long drive. They asked if the boy had been playing on an highway, which was located next to the boy’s home.

At the time of this incident, the officers worked for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and later transferred to Ferguson.

(We are still unclear how these “troubled” officers are able to gain employment at other police forces with their checkered past.)

During the confrontation, the officers “became confrontational” and intimidated the child, the lawsuit claims. “Unprovoked and without cause, the deputies grabbed [the boy], choked him around the neck and threw him to the ground,” it says. The boy was shirtless at the time, and allegedly “suffered bruising, choke marks, scrapes and cuts across his body.”

The encounter was critical enough that they 12 year old boy had to be transferred to a medical facility for treatment. As you can imagine, the officers claimed the young boy had assault of a law enforcement officer third degree” and “resisting/interfering with arrest, detention or stop.”

This claim seems to be their go to move when they want to rough a suspect up a bit. They are usually heard yelling, “Stop resisting”, when the person isn’t.

Fortunately, in this case, the Jefferson County prosecutors would not take the bait and bring a case against the young 12 year old boy. The excessive use of force makes people wonder why these officers were allowed to remain on the force in Ferguson.