A $50 million lawsuit was filed Monday against the city of Gary and its Police Department for failing to find two young men ejected from a car during a crash one month ago.

The young men -- Brandon Smith and Dominique Green, both 18 -- were found dead by family members hours after the crash. Personal injury attorney Kenneth J. Allen, who is representing Green's parents, alleges in the lawsuit Green was alive at the time police ignored pleas to search for the pair.

"There is no excuse for what the officers did not do at the scene of this crash," Allen said.

"It shocks the conscience and can't be tolerated."

Assistant Gary City Attorney Jerome Taylor declined comment on the lawsuit.

Allen plans to seek court permission to exhume Green's body to find evidence to contradict an earlier autopsy report from the Lake County coroner's office that says the young men died instantly.

Allen contends Green's body had extensive bruising and swelling, indicating he was alive after the crash.

Lake Superior Court Judge William Davis has issued an injunction preserving evidence in the case, like the 911 tape Allen said supports his clients' contention that police knew there were missing accident victims but did not search for them.

Allen and his clients, Willie Green Jr. and Jacquelyn Green, also dispute the Police Department's contention that the bodies were 95 to 120 feet from the crashed car. He said family members quickly found the teens just 15 feet from the crash site.

The single-vehicle crash occurred about 1:30 a.m. Sept. 15 in the 2700 block of Chase Street in Gary. The driver, 17-year-old Darius Moore, and a surviving passenger, both pleaded for police to find Smith and Green, Allen said.

The lawsuit, which names responding Gary police Officer Jeff Westerfield, the Police Department and the city, seeks $50 million. But Allen and his clients said the lawsuit is all about finding the truth and making sure the city changes its protocol so that this type of incident doesn't happen again.

Allen said it is "criminal" what happened to the victims, and he said the Gary Police Department showed disregard for human life. Green's mother said she knows her son was alive after the crash, and her son is not with her today because of police negligence.

"The closure (for the family) will come when the truth comes out," Allen said.

He said he has not talked to the Smith family about representing them.