The city of Campbell, it's former police chief, as well as one current and one former police officer are the subjects of a $4.5 million lawsuit filed by three men who say they were targeted by police because of their race.

The civil rights lawsuit was filed in federal court last week by Jerron Jenkins, Mark Anthony Greene, and Bryant Youngblood, Jr., who say their car was pulled over by police on February 26, 2016, along McCartney Road.

The three say that at the time they were East High School coaches on there the way to a weekend coaching conference in Pittsburgh.

According to the lawsuit, the car was stopped because former Campbell Police Officer Robert Vukovich claimed that an air freshener hanging from a rear view mirror was obstructing the driver's view.

The three men say Vukovich was joined by Officer Ronald Craig, who called in a drug-sniffing K-9 that police say alerted them to some type of contraband of the car.

The suit says police emptied the men's suitcases into the trunk and back seat of the car but found nothing more than prescription blood pressure medicine.

Greene claims police charged him with obstructing justice for questioning the legality of the traffic stop. Greene says when he objected to being arrested, he was also charged with disorderly conduct and held in the Campbell City Jail until he could make bond.

The report filed by Campbell police does not mention an air freshener, but says that the car had “numerous vision obstructions across the front windshield”.

Police also say that when police told the three to get out of the car so the K-9 could sniff the car, Greene began yelling, telling the others to stay inside the vehicle.

The report says after Greene continued refusing to exit the car, an officer noticed that Greene's right hand was “concealed” between the car door and the side of the seat, and suspected that he may be concealing a weapon.

Police say Greene only got out of the car after Vukovich placed his chest and warned that he would be stunned unless he stepped out.

According to the report, Greene refused to place his hands behind his back, so both officers forced Greene up against the car so they could handcuff him.

Greene eventually pleaded no contest to a charge of disorderly conduct in September. The charge of obstructing justice was dismissed.

The civil rights suit, filed by Attorney David Engler, claims that Campbell Police Officers have issued thousands of citations for items like air fresheners obstructing driver's views, but also alleges that police have a history of pulling over more cars driven by minorities than those driven by white individuals.

Greene, Jenkins, and Youngblood are all African Americans.

The lawsuit does not offer evidence to support the contention that Campbell police are more likely to target minorities.

Drew Rauzan is named as a defendant in the suit because he was Campbell police at the time of the traffic stop.

Rauzan, who was allowed to resign, has since been Rauzan pleaded guilty to four charges of unauthorized use of information from the state law enforcement computers.

The city of Campbell is named in the suit for allegedly failing to properly train their officers.

The suit claims the three were victims civil rights violations including unreasonable search and seizure.

The three are each seeking $1.5 million for compensatory and punitive damages.