The plaintiffs in a gross negligence case are taking aim at a major insurance company by adding it as a defendant in their petition, alleging that the company’s captive counsel misstated the law to a state district court to avoid covering a fatal, police-involved car crash.

The background to the case, according to the Sept. 16 fourth amended petition in Shawn Williams Sr., et al. v. The City of Baytown, et al., which is pending in Harris County’s 127th District Court, is as follows.