SEEKONK — Police Capt. Gary M. Jones and former Selectman Steven S. Howitt have filed a federal lawsuit against two former Seekonk police chiefs and two of Jones’ colleagues on the police force, charging that the four violated their civil rights by conducting a “Spanish Inquisition” into a favor Jones did for Howitt three years ago.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, is the latest flare-up over Jones’ suspension in 2006 for running a license-plate check at Howitt’s behest.

Jones and Howitt allege that their rights to free speech and due process were violated, and their reputations were besmirched, by former Seekonk police Chiefs Vito J. Scotti and Wayne L. Mackiewicz and by Capt. Craig Mace and Lt. Frank John, who are still at the Police Department.

The former chiefs and two officers sought “not to find the truth or treat Jones … fairly but, rather to institute and maintain disciplinary proceedings against Jones that were undertaken with malice,” the complaint alleges.

Jones also alleges that the aftereffects of the “witch hunt” continue to impact his career: He says he’s been told he’s out of the running for a police chief post in a neighboring Massachusetts community because of the negative press that surrounded the license-plate dispute.

The lawsuit has been forwarded to the town’s insurance carrier, Town Administrator Michael J. Carroll said late last week. Municipal insurance policies normally cover town employees who are sued in their official capacities, he said.

“Right now, I’m just doing the administrative tasks as far as making sure the paperwork is forwarded to the proper individuals to make sure the town is protected,” Carroll said.

Jones was suspended by Scotti in August 2005 after Jones performed a license-plate check for Howitt on a car frequently parked outside Howitt’s mother’s house and the selectman’s next-door business.

Howitt used the information to find and confront the driver, who then complained to the police, prompting Scotti’s review of Jones’ involvement in the spring of 2005.

The driver was later identified as Coleman Wholean, an employee of private investigating firm Claims Investigation Services (C.I.S.). Both the company and Wholean are also named as defendants in the federal complaint filed early this month.

The internal investigation “presented Scotti an opportunity to ‘get even’ ” and to “exact revenge on Howitt and Jones (or upon Howitt through Jones),” the suit alleges.

Scotti had a poor relationship with Howitt, who had objected to renewing the chief’s contract and who was on the Board of Selectmen that promoted Jones to captain without Scotti’s recommendation, the suit says.

Rather than asking who had done Howitt’s check, Scotti “decided to use a more theatrical approach, convening a type of ‘Spanish Inquisition’ (at Seekonk taxpayer expense),” the suit says.

Scotti chose John and Mace to lead the internal investigation — two officers who, the suit alleges, shared the chief’s dislike of Jones.

Plus, Scotti threatened Jones not to have any more contact with Howitt, despite Jones’ “right to conduct his own investigation” and speak freely in his own defense, the suit says.

By late summer 2005, Scotti left the chief’s job, and Mackiewicz was appointed interim chief. He affirmed the charges against Jones, determining that Jones had lied twice and had violated several department policies, and suspended him for 10 days.

Jones appealed to the Board of Selectmen, which held a three-day public grievance hearing and upheld Jones’ suspension.

An arbitrator, though, ruled last November that the Police Department did not have “just cause” to suspend Jones. While Jones could be faulted for bad judgment, there’s no proof that he lied or acted inappropriately, according to the ruling, which overturned Jones’ suspension and compelled the town to remove mention of the discipline from his record and to reimburse Jones $2,634 in unpaid wages.

In the federal suit, filed by lawyer John B. Reilly, Jones and Howitt charge that Wholean and his employer, C.I.S., made false reports to Seekonk police and defamed Howitt by saying the selectman threatened Wholean. The suit seeks punitive damages of more than $75,000 from C.I.S.

The suit also alleges that Scotti, Mace and John violated Jones’ and Howitt’s rights to due process by seizing Jones’ cell phone records.

mwims@projo.com