Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:01 am Posts: 19477 Location: Brooklyn NY
Woman sues Ohio sheriff's deputy over 'outrageous' strip search Adam Doster Published: Saturday February 2, 2008
Hope Steffey's night started with a call to police for help. It ended with her face down, naked, and sobbing on a jail cell floor. Now, the sheriff's deputies from Stark County, Ohio who allegedly used excessive force during a strip search 15 months ago face a federal lawsuit, and recently released video won’t help their case.
Steffey's ordeal with the Stark County sheriff's deputies began after her cousin called 9-1-1 claiming Steffey had been assaulted by another one of their cousins. When a Stark County police officer arrived, he asked to see Steffey's driver's license. But instead of handing over her own ID, she mistakenly turned over her dead sister's license, which she contends she keeps in her wallet as a memento. That's when the situation became complicated.
"Hope was not treated as a victim," her lawyer told WKYC News. "The officer said to her 'shut up about your dead sister.'"
Eventually, Steffey was arrested and taken to the Stark County Jail, charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. But once in custody, her attorney says seven jail workers, male and female, forcibly removed Steffey of all her clothes, including her undergarments, while she lay face down in handcuffs. Local news footage shows Steffey wailing, asking "What are you doing?!?"
"And you have to ask yourself, what was the purpose of the strip search?" said Steffey's lawyer. "What was the necessity of it? This was a disorderly conduct claim."
The lawsuit says that Steffey remained in the cell for six hours and wrapped herself in toilet paper to stay warm. During that time, she was not allowed to use a phone or seek medical assistance for injuries she accrued that night, including a cracked tooth, bulging disc, and bruises.
Although the sheriff's policy requires officers conducting any strip search to be of the same sex, the sheriff contends that the tactic used on Steffey was not actually a strip search. He also questions the validiy of the events leading up to Steffey’s arrest.
Once shown the exclusive video, Steffey’s husband was in disbelief. "You don't treat people like this," he said. "I don't think murderers are treated like this."
This video is from WKYC News, broadcast February 1, 2008
Unfortunately, it's so elementary, and the big time investors behind the drive in the stock market aren't so stupid. This isn't the false economy of 2000.
Post subject: Re: Police hijinks: February edition
Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 1:59 am
Banned from the Pit
Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 1:00 am Posts: 54 Location: Northeast Ohio Gender: Male
Stark County is a fucked up place. It's the boondocks and all the news ever reports on there are meth labs and police officers who murder their girlfriends.
Post subject: Re: Police hijinks: February edition
Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 3:10 pm
too drunk to moderate properly
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
BlackSunshine wrote:
Stark County is a fucked up place. It's the boondocks and all the news ever reports on there are meth labs and police officers who murder their girlfriends.
Isn't Canton in Stark County? It's adjacent to Akron. It's the 7th most populous county in Ohio. Cuyahoga: Cleveland Franklin: Columbus Hamilton: Cincy Summit: Akron Montgomery: Cincy Suburb Lucas: Toledo Stark: Canton
It's pretty fuckin' urban.
Anyhow ... the video from the header post is gone. Here's a news story. Don't play it at work, it has a woman screaming.
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
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