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Subscribe to RSSA Florida sheriff’s department is denying a woman's claim that she was strip-searched in public and had her tampon “forcibly” removed by a female officer during a 2011 traffic stop with her children in the car.
Leila Tarantino filed a lawsuit on Aug. 3 in U.S. District Court in Florida's Ocala County against the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office. She alleges she was not only frisked but that a female officer removed her tampon during a roadside search on July 17.
The lawsuit names Citrus County Sheriff Jeffrey J. Dawsey and six officers, referred to as “John Doe Officers 1-5” and “Jane Doe Officer,” as defendants.
View Tarantino’s federal lawsuit (Pdf.)
The sheriff's office denied claims.
“The Citrus County Sheriff’s Office wants to go on record as saying the allegations made in this lawsuit are not only ludicrous, but completely untrue,” it said in a statement released to NBC News on Monday. “No strip search was conducted, and the plaintiff’s tampon was never forcibly removed by any deputy.”
Tarantino alleges that she was pulled over by an officer in Beverly Hills, Fla., after she had stopped at a stop sign on South Columbus Street. She said her two children were passengers in the vehicle at the time of the alleged 4 p.m. incident.
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She accuses the officer of pulling her over, pointing a gun at her, yanking her out of her vehicle, handcuffing her behind her back, then throwing her in the back of his squad car, according to the lawsuit. Tarantino claims she asked why she had been pulled over and the officer didn’t respond.
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She claims she waited in the police cruiser for two hours and when other officers arrived, she was frisked and strip-searched at the side of a busy road, the lawsuit alleges. She said her children had been waiting in the woman's vehicle the entire time. The lawsuit's account:
“During her detention, PLAINTIFF was frisked and strip searched twice at the side of the busy road, in plain view of passers by. During one of the strip searches, PLAINTIFF had a tampon forcibly removed by JANE DOE OFFICER.
"At no point was a drug sniffing dog used to search for contraband,” the lawsuit stated, adding “None of the officers ever found any weapons, drugs, contraband or anything illegal during plaintiff’s detention.”
According to the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office, Tarantino was issued a criminal citation for violation of restrictions on her driver’s license. She also was issued a written warning for rolling through a stop sign.
Tarantino's lawyer, Matthew W. Birk emailed to NBC News the following statement: "This case is currently in litigation and will be tried in a courtroom, not the press. The allegations made by Ms. Tarantino are set forth in the Complaint, which is a public record. Because of the sensitive nature of this matter, Ms. Tarantino will not be available for comment until after her lawsuit concludes.
"This case is currently in litigation and will be tried in a courtroom, not the press. The allegations made by Ms. Tarantino are set forth in the Complaint, which is a public record. Because of the sensitive nature of this matter, Ms. Tarantino will not be available for comment until after her lawsuit concludes."
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Leave a Comment:
I believe it --if she was going to lie, she could have said a male officer did that. Talking about having your tampon removed by someone is not something a woman is going to feel comfortable talking about to people. It's an embarrassment along with a violation. Plus, it IS standard for police to get a female officer to search women and she DID say it was the female officer that did it, so I don't think she's lying.
Well wake up. A video was released and she was lying!
john, produce the alleged video including a specialist looking at it to make sure it has not been tampered with.
plenty of cops have been caught abusing rights and lying about it. prove that she is the one lying.
Cops are scum. I had one pull me over for speeding. I was. But he didnt see it, it was a plane miles back that saw me speeding. I didn't know it at the time, I was doing the speed limit when the cop nailed me. We had words and I was nasty, so was he. He said I had no insurance or registration, I did and held it out in front for him to see. He wrote me tickets for speeding and no insurance or registration. My wife witnessed the whole thing. My daughter and wife were in the back seat. I filed a complaint with the police dept. They did nothing and washed it under the table. I also can say it was Tampa on I75 that it happened.
I didn't go to court with the papers to prove I had insurance thinking I would fight the whole thing in court. I got a lawyer and he pleaded out and I had to pay all three tickets. The cop lied and perjured himself the whole way. I'll say it again, Cops lie and are scum.
I would like to see all these cop haters do a policemans job? Then you see how much you really love humanity. This woman is a liar. And all you cop haters out there.....if you are ever in trouble anywhere, DONT CALL 911. Do it all yourself.
I have had to do it myself, creamcheese, and cops don't like that anymore than they like responding to 911 calls.
Whether this is true or not, I hope the woman wins simply because every cop is nothing more than trash!
We need more evidence to understand this. I can't find anything more than hearsay reporting, no video, no eye witness accounts, etc. and I have sniffed around the web. I find it hard to believe no one got a pic/video of a woman being strip searched in public and I also find it hard to believe cops would do that as they'd not only be fired but imprisoned as well and cops don't last long in prison. Now FL cops have a reputation for getting out of hand but because of that I'd expect them to post some hard evidence if they are truly innocent here; thus, I think the cops probably did something unethical and possibly illegal to Ms. Tarantino but I find it hard to believe she was publicly strip/cavity searched and no one passing by got a pic, video, or is coming forward to support her claim.
Maybe she had to beef up the story just like cops do. Throw enough junk at the wall and something is going to stick.
This state is as weird as Mr. Obama.
Obama closed 9 Border stations this week. Middle Eastern
terrorists said that this will make it alot more easier for them to come in and
hurt Americans. Don't believe me? Watch this newsclip which one terrorist says
he plans on bringing enough Anthrax over the Mexican border that can kill
300,000 Americans in an hour. Please pass this along so others are aware. There
has been little press about it. http://www.westernjournalism.com/proof-that-terrorists-are-entering-u-s-from-mexican-border/
Do u seriously think cops stripped a woman naked on the side of the road and pulled her tampon out with cars passing by and nobody stopped to intervene or that no one called the police to report this incident????? You people who believe this woman's story are incredibly stupid and pathetic. With all the cop cars there, all their dashboard cameras were all turned off at the same time and this didn't raise suspicion to the investigators covering this incident?? This what's wrong with our country, you have fing azzholes who make up stories like this and then you have fing morons who actually believe her and her completely insane story. God bless America
I guess Dracula has a side job during the day
Just go back to the scene and find the smoking tampon. If the Tampon dont fit you gotta acquit! Something does smell fishy dosent it nothanksmirable....lol
Although alot of druggies are not afraid to put drugs, money, weapons in their orifices, This would be straight crazy for it to happen like she detailed. I call B.S.
9-Fingers
I have been there, and I do mean there, they have a judge, if he is still alive, that has family that own the farms. He runs the whole thing, they put you behind bars and the tax payer pays for their incarceration and he rents them out to his family to harvest the crops at lower than legal wage.
I was also arrested in Jacksonville, I pissed off a deputy when he could not count to ten on my fingers during finger printing. He later came to my cell and strangled me till I passed out, I did not fight back.
What goes on behind those walls no one will know unless they have been there!!!!!!!!!
What was she hidding there?
GROSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! Who the hell would do such a thing to a woman? SMDH, I wouldnt believe that the cops DIDNT do that for one second, if they suspected her of having contraband hidden in her body cavity (ewwww but happens). How humiliating for the young lady, and shes going to have a tough fight on her hands cops v her word!!! Good luck with that one .....
The various arguments put forward by both sides on this blog really shows the truism of " who feels it knows it." Some people will always believe authority figures until they get screwed themselves. These are the ones who usually go beserk as they find out they have been fools all along because they ignored reams of history proving otherwise. Some people will believe the opposite, that all cops are psychos out to get them. Both sides will try to provide evidence like a police record or the delay in filing a lawsuit to "prove" that this person must be lying. I personally don't know what to believe and will await the courts decision however here are my experiences; I have been delayed for an hour and a half on a traffic stop in NY & no,I wasn't searched, I have been given breaks by cops when they could have arrested me, I have been cited by a-hole cops for charges that were so laughable, the judge laughed at them and tossed out the tickets, I have had to pay off corrupt cops, I have seen with my own eyes cops assaulting black people for giving them lip and yet IMO I have never had a bad experience with a cop in the over 30 countries i have travelled to, because my life was never in danger!