Phoenix Police Officer Who Pulled Gun On Parents Over Doll To Be Terminated

A Phoenix police officer was told he would be terminated after a high-profile incident in May, where he pulled the gun on the parents of a four-year-old girl who had taken a doll from a store and arrested the couple.

Officer Chris Meyer, who has been on administrative leave since the incident, will be terminated after an investigation by the department's disciplinary review board is completed. There are multiple options as far as punishment goes, but Phoenix police chief Jeri Williams announced that though the review board recommended a six-week suspension without pay, there needed to be more punishment.

Chief Williams went on to say, "In this case, a 240-hour suspension is just not sufficient to reverse the adverse effects of his actions on our department."

Meyer and his partner were called to the store because of the incident. Meyer pulled his gun on the family -- Dravon Ames, his fiancee Iesha Harper, and their two daughters ages 1 and 4 -- and also kicked one of the parents during the arrest. A bystander recorded the video, and it shows a man believed to be Ames against the side of the car being kicked in his legs by the police officer.

Another officer was issued a written reprimand because of foul language he used in the incident. The family has retained a lawyer.

One of the officers told Harper, "I could have shot you in front of your f------ kids," said a claim filed by the family's lawyer Thomas Horne, a former attorney general for the state.

The parents had filed a $10 million lawsuit against the city, claiming the officers committed battery, unlawful imprisonment, false arrest and other civil rights violations. That case is still pending.

Video surveillance from the store did show the 4-year-old girl take a doll out of the Family Dollar without it being paid for. When questioned about it, the parents told the police that they had not realized that she had taken the doll until after they had left the premises.

According to the parents, they had taken the children to a babysitter at an apartment complex nearby and were to return to the store with the items. But they were stopped at the apartment complex parking lot by the police.

The store did not press charges after the items were recovered. Meyer has the right to appeal the department's decision.