The Payton Mallia lawsuit is a federal civil rights case filed in October 2025 against four Arkansas State Troopers who allegedly pointed a pistol and semiautomatic rifles at Mallia and her four-year-old son during a mistaken-identity stop at a Fayetteville gas station in July 2024.1NWA Homepage. Arkansas State Troopers Sued for Allegedly Pulling Guns on Woman, Child in Wrong Vehicle at Fayetteville Gas Station The suit accuses the troopers of using unreasonable and excessive force and seeks damages for emotional distress, embarrassment, and humiliation.
What Happened at the Fayetteville Gas Station
On July 12, 2024, Mallia and her son were at a convenience store on Wedington Drive in Fayetteville. As they tried to leave, four Arkansas State Troopers blocked her vehicle. The troopers were looking for a white 2013 Lincoln MKZ that had been tagged with an AirTag tracker. Mallia was driving a white 2009 Lincoln MKS with a temporary tag — a different model and model year.2Yahoo News. Arkansas State Troopers Sued for Allegedly Pulling Guns on Woman and Child
According to the complaint, Mallia turned toward the troopers and raised her hands to show she was unarmed. Trooper Randall Schwab pointed a pistol at her and her child, while Taylor Elkins, Brandon Walker, and Shane Alkire aimed AR-type rifles from roughly 10 to 20 feet away.1NWA Homepage. Arkansas State Troopers Sued for Allegedly Pulling Guns on Woman, Child in Wrong Vehicle at Fayetteville Gas Station Mallia was ordered out of the car, told to lie face down, and handcuffed. The suit says that even after she was restrained, Schwab required her to retrieve her driver’s license from the vehicle before she was allowed to comfort her son. A trooper eventually checked the VIN and confirmed they had the wrong car. The vehicle they had been searching for was later located in Benton County.2Yahoo News. Arkansas State Troopers Sued for Allegedly Pulling Guns on Woman and Child
Who Is Being Sued and What Mallia Is Seeking
Mallia filed the lawsuit on October 15, 2025, in the Fayetteville division of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. The four troopers — Elkins, Schwab, Walker, and Alkire — are named individually as defendants.1NWA Homepage. Arkansas State Troopers Sued for Allegedly Pulling Guns on Woman, Child in Wrong Vehicle at Fayetteville Gas Station The complaint accuses them of unreasonable and excessive force and argues that they should not be entitled to qualified immunity.2Yahoo News. Arkansas State Troopers Sued for Allegedly Pulling Guns on Woman and Child
She is seeking damages for emotional distress, embarrassment, and humiliation suffered by both her and her son, and the suit states that both were frightened by what the troopers did. Specific dollar amounts have not been publicly reported. Arkansas State Police declined to comment on the pending litigation.3NWA Online. Lawsuit: Troopers in Wrong for Pulling Guns On Woman and Child
The Qualified Immunity Question
Qualified immunity is a federal doctrine that shields government officials from personal liability in civil rights suits unless they violated a “clearly established” constitutional right. Arkansas has not modified the doctrine at the state level, so the standard the U.S. Supreme Court set in Harlow v. Fitzgerald (1982) applies in full.4Police1. Qualified Immunity: A State-by-State Review Mallia’s complaint anticipates that defense and argues the troopers’ conduct was clearly unreasonable given what they saw at the scene.
Is There Video of the Stop?
Whether recordings of the encounter exist is a meaningful question in the case. Arkansas State Police policy requires in-car cameras to activate automatically when emergency lights are engaged, and officers must manually turn on audio and video recording for all stops, vehicle searches, and arrests. The policy bars officers from turning cameras or microphones off to avoid recording an event and treats doing so as grounds for discipline. In a use-of-force incident, the officer must immediately turn the storage device over to a supervisor.5Bureau of Justice Assistance. Arkansas State Police Law Enforcement Policy Manual – In-Car Cameras
ASP troopers do not wear body cameras. As of early 2025, no state law required any Arkansas police agency to equip officers with body-worn cameras. A bill introduced in the 2025 session, House Bill 1219, would have required body cameras for all Arkansas law enforcement officers on duty by December 31, 2026. Whether that bill was enacted is not clear from available reporting.6THV11. Proposed Law Would Require Arkansas Police to Wear Bodycams
Pattern of Mistaken-Identity Stops
Mallia’s case is not the only recent instance in which ASP has been accused of taking aggressive action against the wrong vehicle. The agency has acknowledged two tactical vehicle interventions, its term for PIT maneuvers, that involved mistaken identity of the suspect vehicle: a September 2023 incident on Interstate 40 near West Memphis in which Cpl. Thomas Hubbard rammed the wrong sedan and later retired, and a January 2026 incident on Interstate 630 in which a probationary trooper identified as J. Fitzgerald rammed a white SUV and was fired three days later.7Arkansas Department of Public Safety. ASP Trooper Terminated After Conducting TVI on Incorrect Vehicle During Pursuit Mallia’s case does not involve a vehicle maneuver, but the failure to correctly identify a target vehicle before acting is the thread running through all of them.
Where the Case Stands
As of late October 2025, the lawsuit was pending in federal court. No public reporting has identified the assigned judge, a case number, or any ruling on the qualified immunity defense the complaint anticipates. None of the four named troopers have publicly commented, and Arkansas State Police has declined to discuss the litigation.1NWA Homepage. Arkansas State Troopers Sued for Allegedly Pulling Guns on Woman, Child in Wrong Vehicle at Fayetteville Gas Station