Civil rights lawsuit underway against Chicago Police, city
Eight Chicago police officers and the City of Chicago are named in a civil rights lawsuit filed Wednesday accusing the officers of conducting multiple illegal open-air strip searches and planting evidence.
Caprice Halley, Tevin Ford and the estate of Robert Douglas say they were pulled over on the 9000 block of South Laflin by undercover officers last May.
The plaintiffs claim Ford and Douglas were handcuffed and searched on the street as additional officers arrived, and that the searches including reaching down the front of their pants. According to the lawsuit, Douglas was later shackled to the window bars of a nearby home, where officers pulled his pants down, bent him over and searched his buttocks.
The female defendant, Halley, claims she was surrounded by five male officers while a female officer ordered her to remove her pants — despite her pleas that she was menstruating. The officer allegedly ordered Halley to remove her tampon and proceeded to conducted the search in her vagina while the other officers make jokes and laughed, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit invokes violations of the 4th Amendment (prohibiting unreasonable searches and seizures) and the 14th Amendment.
The officer claimed to have found a bag of heroin in Halley’s waistband, which Halley says was planted. Douglas and Halley were charged with delivery and possession of a controlled substance. Douglas died last June, but his family is suing on his behalf. Halley’s criminal case is pending.
A raw video captured by a resident on the block shows about 3 minutes of the CPD strip search. The plaintiffs are seeking financial damages from the officers and the city on claims of their rights being violated, undergoing physical harm and emotional distress.
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