PoliceOne:com: Video: Women file suit over 'painful' roadside cavity search | Officers stated the women were acting strange and suspected marijuana was involved by Eric Nicholson, The Dallas Observer
DALLAS, Texas — On July 13, Angel Dobbs was driving her boyfriend's car north down the George Bush Turnpike when they were pulled over by state troopers. The troopers said they had spotted Dobbs throw a cigarette butt out the window.
According to a lawsuit filed by the Dobbs yesterday in federal court, the traffic stop soon took a different turn. One of the troopers, David Ferrell, took Angel Dobbs to a roadside field, where he peppered her with questions that quickly transitioned from general queries about where the pair was headed and to more pointed questions about whether they were transporting marijuana. He did the same with Ashley Dobbs. Both denied having any weed.
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According to the lawsuit, Hellson's gloved hands went inside Dobbs' sweatpants and probed both front and back. Dobbs suffers from a skin condition called hidradenitis suppurativa that made the whole thing particularly painful. Without changing her gloves, Hellson performed an identical search on Ashley Dobbs, the suit claims.
When Angel Dobbs told Farrell she felt violated by the search, which had happened on a public roadway in full view of passersby, he told her it was justified by the odor of marijuana, which made it clear that "someone is a daily smoker in that car," according to the suit.
I filed a suit like this about 20 years ago in Arkansas involving a male strip searched on the side of a U.S. highway. The answer was a reasonable offer of judgment.
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