A Chicago woman has filed suit against LaSalle County after she says she was forcibly stripped of her clothes and left in a jail cell for hours following a drunk driving arrest. The woman, Dana Holmes, has said that the strip wasn’t about any legitimate desire to search her, but instead appeared to merely be punitive, something her lawyer says amounts to an unconstitutional violation of Holmes’ rights.
Beyond her own recollection of events, Holmes was able to access a jail surveillance video that clearly shows what happened the night of her DUI arrest. On May 18th, Holmes was pulled over for drunk driving. Video and audio recordings from the officer’s dashboard camera show that Holmes failed a field sobriety test and was eventually arrested. Holmes then voluntarily submitted to a Breathalyzer test, which showed that she had a BAC of 0.226, almost three times the state’s legal limit.
Despite her apparent intoxication, Holmes never appeared combative or in any way resistant to the officer’s instructions. However, in a subsequent report filled out the day after the arresting, the officer noted that Holmes had been “mouthy” and was “causing problems” during the traffic stop. Beyond these vague statements, the officers failed to identify any specific actions that were objectionable.
Once Holmes was taken to the jail that’s when things got even worse. It was at the jail that Holmes says she was attacked by three male police officers and one female officer who pulled her to the ground, carried her into a nearby cell and proceeded to rip her clothes off of her. The officers then walked out of the cell with her clothes, leaving her naked and alone.
Sometime later Holmes was taken to be fingerprinted and photographed for which she was given a blanket to wrap around herself. Her lawyer points out that no search ever took place; the officers appeared to only want to rip off her clothes. These actions are illegal and amount to a serious violation of her rights. This is because the law clearly says that a strip search is only valid if an officer believes that a suspect has a weapon or is hiding drugs. Neither of these suspicions was ever raised in this case, leaving many people horrified at the officers’ actions. Moreover, Illinois law is clear that only an officer of the same sex may conduct a strip search. In this case, three men ripped the clothes off Holmes as she struggled on the floor.
Given the egregious actions by the officers in this case, Holmes and her attorney are asking for damages due to the emotional harm she suffered from what should have been a relatively routine drunk driving arrest. Holmes is also hoping that LaSalle County takes action against the officers, either by firing them or pressing criminal charges.
Contact An Experienced DWI Attorney in Minneapolis
If you have been arrested for a DUI and feel your rights may have been violated in the process, it is very important to contact an attorney to review the facts of your case to determine what Minnesota DWI legal defenses may exist. Douglas T. Kans and his team of defense attorneys have been litigating drunk driving related offenses for over 19 years. Contact us today for a free case evaluation.
Source: “Woman Sues LaSalle County After Strip Search in DUI Arrest,” published at NBCChicago.com.
