Teen girl in pajamas humiliated by Biloxi officers during traffic stop, lawsuit says
A Biloxi teenager driving to a casino in her pajamas to pick up her older sister says she was pulled over by a police officer, sexually harassed by several male officers and then arrested without cause on a DUI charge.
The student’s mother, now a Mississippi school superintendent in another city, has filed a lawsuit on her minor daughter’s behalf against the city of Biloxi. The teenager wanted the lawsuit filed, her mother said, in hopes of preventing other girls from suffering the same treatment.
The family said they could not discuss the situation while the lawsuit is pending, as did the girl’s attorney, Monte Tynes of Pascagoula.
The DUI charge was dropped and erased shortly after the girl’s arrest on July 27, 2018, both sides say in legal filings. The teenager was not named in the lawsuit because she was a minor. The officers involved in the traffic stop have not been identified.
Police Chief John Miller said he could not comment because the lawsuit is pending. In its response to the lawsuit, the city denies any wrongdoing. The officer pulled over the teenager because she ran a red light, the response says.
Biloxi teenager details traffic stop
The lawsuit describes what happened from the point of view of the teenage girl.
She said she got a call around midnight from her older sister, who was with friends and needed a ride home from a casino. The teenager left home in her pajamas and was stopped by a Biloxi officer after turning onto Pass Road.
The officer ordered the girl to get out of her car and stand behind it. By this time, two other male officers were on the scene.
The teen said she put her arms across her chest to cover herself.
“The officers stared at her and ordered her to put her hands down at her side in a blatant attempt to look at her breasts,” the lawsuit says. It further alleges that the officers “repeatedly ordered the (teenager) to move her arms and uncover her breasts and stand in the open, and made inappropriate sexual remarks.”
The teenager consented to a field sobriety test. Afterward, she requested a breathalyzer, but said the officers would not give her one.
The city’s response says: “It is admitted that (teenager) was asked to place her hands at her side in connection with performing the field sobriety tests, but it is specifically denied that there was any sexual harassment. It is admitted that two other Biloxi officers were present who were males.”
The teenager was arrested for driving under the influence of a substance other than alcohol, driving without a license, an expired tag and a traffic violation.
Drug, alcohol screening negative
Once her bond was posted and she was released, the girl insisted her mother take her to the hospital for drug and alcohol screening. The results showed no drugs or alcohol in her system, the lawsuit says.
The mother called Miller with the results and asked that he look at a video of the stop. The lawsuit says he agreed to drop the charge against her daughter after watching the video. He would not agree to the mother’s request for a meeting with him and the officers involved, both sides say.
The lawsuit, moved from state to federal court by the city, accuses the unidentified officers and city of Biloxi of false arrest and imprisonment, sexual harassment, gross negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. It asks for unspecified damages to compensate the teenager for the pain and humiliation she has suffered, punitive damages, court costs and attorney’s fees.
This story was originally published December 5, 2019 at 5:45 AM.
