A Boyle Circuit Court judge has denied efforts by the City of Danville and one of its police officers to dismiss a civil lawsuit filed by Cindy Lou Hardwick on behalf of John H. Hardwick.

According to a court order filed July 17, Judge Michael Dean of the 50th Judicial Circuit ruled against motions from Officer Alex Hutti and the City of Danville, doing business as the Danville Police Department, to throw out the complaint.

The order reads: “IT IS ORDERED THAT Defendant Alex Hutti’s Motion to Dismiss for failure to state a claim is denied; The Motion to Dismiss filed by the City of Danville dba Danville Police Department and its police Officers on grounds that the Complaint is violative of the rule against claim-splitting is also denied.”

Cindy Lou Hardwick filed the lawsuit after John H. Hardwick, who has dementia, was arrested in 2024 following a shoplifting accusation at the Danville Walmart. The complaint alleges that officers mishandled the situation due to a lack of proper training on how to interact with individuals with cognitive conditions.

In a related federal lawsuit, attorney Ephraim Helton named the City of Danville, Police Chief Anthony Gray, Assistant Chief Glenn Doan, and officers Brandon Conley, Benjamin Ray, and T.J. Godbey as defendants.

That complaint claims, “A lack of training of the police on the signs and symptoms a person may exhibit for having dementia puts these people in extreme danger when encountering police.” It further alleges officers “falsified police reports” and “attempted to gain criminal convictions on erroneous criminal charges to cover up unlawful behavior.”

With the judge’s ruling, the case will proceed in Boyle Circuit Court under case number 25-CI-00090.