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Two Irving, Texas, women are suing two Texas State Troopers and the director of the Department of Public Safety after they say they were violated during roadside cavity searches in full view of the public and without probable cause.
On July 13, while driving along state Highway 161, Angel Dobbs and her niece Ashley Dobbs were stopped for littering by Trooper David Ferrell. In the dashcam video released by the women and their attorney, Ferrell can be heard telling the women they would both be cited for littering for throwing cigarette butts out of the car.
Farrell then returned to his cruiser and, in the video, can be heard calling female trooper Kelley Helleson to the scene to search both women whom he said were acting weird.
While waiting for Helleson to arrive, Farrell asked Angel Dobbs to step out of the vehicle and began questioning her about marijuana use. In the video, the Trooper is heard telling Dobbs he smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle while asking her several times how much pot was in the car.
Farrell: How much marijuana is in that car? And don't lie to me.
Angel Dobbs: I don't smoke marijuana.
Farrell: OK, how much marijuana is in that car? That's my question.
Dobbs: I swear to God, I don't smoke marijuana.
Farrell: I'm not asking you if you smoke it.
Dobbs: I don't think there is any marijuana in that car.
Farrell: OK, when was the last time somebody smoked marijuana in that car?
Dobbs: I honestly don't know. It's my boyfriend's car. So, I just borrowed it.
Farrell: There's an odor of marijuana coming from the car and that's why I've got to talk to you further about it. Um, and the more upfront you are the better it's going to go for you. So, you're telling me there's no marijuana in that car?
Dobbs: To the best of my knowledge, no there is not.
Farrell: Is there anything hidden on your person?
Dobbs: On my person?
Farrell: On your person, in your shoes, in your underwear?
Dobbs: No. I feel like I'm being treated like a criminal right now. What's going on?
Farrell: I've got a female trooper up the road, she's going to come down here and we're just going to check a little bit more.
After Helleson arrived, she can be seen in the dashcam video putting on blue latex gloves to conduct a search of both women. According to the lawsuit, when Angel Dobbs asked about the gloves, Helleson "told her not to worry about that.
In the lawsuit, Dobbs said the trooper conducted the cavity search on the roadside, illuminated by the police car's headlights, in full view of any passing motorists.
"This has been an eye-opening experience for me. I've never been pulled over, never searched like this. I was totally violated over there a few minutes ago... this is so embarrassing to me," Angel Dobbs said on the video.
"I've never been so humiliated or so violated or felt so molested in my entire life," Angel Dobbs told NBC 5.
Dobbs said she never gave consent for the trooper to "frisk, pat-down, search, or otherwise touch her" and that she never gave consent for Farrell to search her vehicle -- which he can be seen doing in the dashcam video while the cavity search was under way.
Dobbs said she was powerless to stop it. "What are you going to say? What's going to happen to you if you challenge that authority?" she said.
With the cavity search concluded, Farrell then asked Dobbs about prescription medications found in the car. Dobbs said they were for her thyroid and for migraines. According to the lawsuit, Dobbs also suffers from a medical condition that was irritated by the search.
Meanwhile, Helleson can then be seen performing the same cavity search on Dobbs' niece, Ashley.
"It's because somebody is a daily smoker in that car. OK, you can attribute it to that," Farrell can be heard saying on the recording.
The lawsuit further alleges that Helleson performed searches on both women, touching both their anus and vaginas, without changing the latex gloves between searches.
"I don't think anybody needs to have to feel, or go through what we went through," Ashley Dobbs said. "It crosses my mind every day. It's humiliating."
After searching the entire car and finding no narcotics, Farrell then administered a DWI test which Dobbs passed, the lawsuit said. The women were then issued warnings for littering and released at the scene.
The lawsuit goes on to say that a bottle of prescribed Hydrocodone was missing from Dobbs' car and purse after the search. The women returned to the scene of the traffic stop the next day to search for the medication, but it was nowhere to be found.
Their lawyers say the search was illegal and a complaint about it was filed in August but that DPS Texas Rangers who investigated the incident took no action.
"This is outside the constitutional grounds by a mile. It's not even close," attorney Scott Palmer said. "This has to stop. These two need to be stopped. There's no telling how many other people they've done this to and we hope that others come forward."
Attorney Charles Soechting, Jr. said his father was a DPS trooper and he has great respect for the agency. "But in this instance they have completely failed the citizens of Texas," Soechting said.
Soechting said a records request to DPS produced no policy that allows for cavity searches of any suspect in public.
"What we're dealing with is a Class C Misdemeanor. It does not justify any type of pat down, let alone an invasive search of cavities of women,"” he said.
Calls for comment to the DPS Austin headquarters were not returned Tuesday.
The women are requesting a trial by jury and are asking for unspecified, compensatory and exemplary damages and interest as well as recovery of attorney's fees and court costs.
The Dallas County District Attorney's office tells NBC 5 it has received the case and will refer it to a grand jury in January.
Leave a Comment:
It's Texass. That tells you what you need to know.
I want both officers to have to stand on the side of the freeway, with cameras rolling and cars driving by, while two citizens glove-up, and stick their hands down their pants, in full view of everyone.
There is no way any sane police officer, worthy of any respect, would ever conduct themselves in this manner. And they know it. This is abuse of power in the extreme. I hope both of these women not only sue the police department but demand these two lowlife officers be fired. No way are these two fit to serve. They are scum.
Uncle Henry
my car was built without an ashtray,, so the world IS my ashtray when I drive,, you non smokers all think alike,, if their is no ashtray anywhere, then they won't smoke,, you can bite my ass on that one,,
Texas AND California are both toilet states,, which explains why this country is headed for hell in high gear,,,,
sammy ex-smoker here did it for 35 years and I agree with your comment to Uncle.
They make ashtrays that fit in your cupholder. I used to smoke in the car and (especially on long drives) would throw the butts out the window into the slipstream. Then, one day, I had a blowout on the Interstate. Had to pull over to put on the spare. I was astonished at the amount of cigarette butts on the side of the road. Hundreds -- maybe thousands -- of them. From that I day forward I never put another one out the window. I put them in an empty can or stop at a rest area for a smoke. Nothing goes out the window anymore. And when I see someone else do it, it makes me mad as hell.
Deleted double post.
Cavity search should be the default when you toss butts out the window.
You ever hear of a soda can? Dumba$$
"WHAT" ,, and stink up the new car smell ??,,
besides,, I don't drink and drive any more,,,,
Typical Sh!t Kicking Tx Cop you can have and consume all the ALCOHOL you want just don't get involved in Injecting that Marijuana stuff it leaves marks on your arms. Stop rolling up that heroin in them Cigarette papers your not fooling us. I just watched Reefer Madness Last night.
Welcome to Texas.
That would never happen in Texass, would it?
Possibly the most horrifying sentence in this article is "without changing the latex gloves between searches."
Oh man. This is NOT good. It is very scary in fact. I think this is why they are called "PIGS". I apologize for this creepy cop.
....WHITES dont litter (99%). Dang it Ashley & Angel. Your making us look bad !!! Hispanics mostly do. Well, the 2 ladies deserved it. You act like that, and you should get humiliated
Obviously you are sicker than the officers. Get some help ASAP.
I hope the state gets sued senseless for this. If that was my girlfriend or daughter, I'd go ballistic.
This is what is left of our freedom!
Now we are nothing but 3rd class citizens
And the cops never let a chance to prove that to us slip by!
Corruption is prevalent in Texas. You can't trust law enforcement, the courts or elected officials. If this had happened in East Texas both ladies would have had body cavity searches by the male officer in a very inappropriate way.
Nice!!! By the roadside they were cavity searched......... thats pretty effed up!!!
I'm just old enough to remember when we respected cops. They were nice, they respected us and they were respectful of the law, as well.
Now, however, they all dress in black and stomp around looking like Ninjas or SS Sturmfuhrers. They speed on the roadways when, apparently, not on a call but will ticket you for doing five mph over the limit. They park in fire zones at the mall to go in to eat but will give you an expensive ticket if you did the same. They will completely make things up to "justify" a ticket or arrest. Even when proven that they lied, they will deny it. Bottom line: cops look at everyone as a "perp" and treat us accordingly.
I used to respect cops. Now...why should I? They don't respect us at all.
The coming Police State is ushering in slowly, but surely. Soon after our guns are outlawed they'll be able to use 'reasonable suspicion' to perform full cavity searches right in your local grocery aisle.
Watch the Dashcam video at the dailymail.uk.co website.
These "officers" stepped way over the line and need to be terminated and charged!
Abuse of Authority, Intimidation, Illegal Search, .............how many more charges? I hope we find out soon!
...probable cause. Maybe they saw a drug sell, or seen the joint(s) discarded. Officers at least doing their job. Trying to get accidents down, on the roadways.......Let it go girls.....its usually the blks, that are looking for free money
What I want to know is this: Where are all those "good cops" who claim the "few bad ones" are giving them a bad name? If you really do hate the way you're being given a bad name the way you claim to, why aren't you right there at the forefront, taking these perps down?
That's why I don't smoke
Just a couple of horny cops. What's unbelievable to me is that they did it in front of their OWN camera. Nothing like giving the victims all the ammunition they need to get a much deserved and HUGE settlement.
But it'll be courtesy of the people of Texas - there'll be no personal acountability for the perps.
The cops went a little too far on this one. Surely they were at first attempting to intimidate the two suspects into admitting some guilt. But when the effort didn't have the intended affect, the moment seized and they followed through with the unlawful act. The two ladies were clearly molested and deserve justice. The two culprits need some serious jail time.
Pot is legal here now. But you still can not drive on it. I really do not think a Washington State Patrol person would do that anyway. They are usually very polite and courteous as they haul you off to jail and THEN cavity search you.
LOL. Wa State Patrol taught me a lesson when I was young: It's the ones that are polite and courteous that cause a world of trouble for you. The one that rants and yells and gives you a nasty lecture at least eventually lets you off with a warning.
They were suspected of having illegal drugs, and he arranged for a female to do the pat down. a pat down is what it is.
it happens to men, but women get to whine about it and get special treatment? I don't think so. Women and men should be treated equally.
These women have nothing to complain about. Pat downs are part of the deal.
Plus, they were apparently throwing stuff out of the window....UMM, that's terrible and you expect to be treated like a criminal, because you ARE a criminal.
Let's get some perspective here. This is a hydrocodone-taking woman who was throwing stuff out of her window in view of the police.
the ONLY thing I have against this is that they did this to someone other than the driver, and apparently a much younger person. That's questionable, but not necessarily wrong (investigations as to police policy will tell us more).
IF cops have the right to frisk and pat down suspected criminals who did in fact commit a crime in full view (littering), I dare anyone to find the policy that draws the line on what constitutes a pat down and prove that these officers somehow did 'more' or 'worse'. The fact is, that policy is missing. So create one. But these officials didn't violate any law.
Do you not understand the difference between a pat-down and a cavity search?
Or just dispute that it happened?
I am sorry to inform you that the minute the searching hand went from outside the clothing to inside the clothing it went WAY past a simple pat down. It actually went from a legal search to an illegal criminal assault.
To put it in terms you would understand, if you shake your friends hand in public your OK. It only becomes illegal when you unzip his fly and shake his penis.
She had a prescription for the hudrocodone and passed the field sobriety test so making her sound like an addicted addict is a prejudicial BS inflammatory and false comment. She threw something out her window according to the cop. This is littering and certainly nothing was found to justify a body search even in a police station and certainly not be the side of the road. You sir are a cop or an idiot!
Ike, your an idiot! A pat down does not include sticking your hands in someones pants and fingering their anus and vagina. If you don't think she stuck her finger in there, why do you think they are suing for BODY CAVITY SEARCH? Really? You are an idiot and must be a pig or be closely related to pigs. My ex-roommate, Matt Baldwin, was a pig for the San Angelo, Texas Police Department and I met several of his friends and heard their stories about how they abuse their powers to get their kicks. When my girlfriend would come over, he would intentionally walk around in his tighty whities. They are PIGS! no doubt about that. I hope someday that these insane lunatics like the one who shot up all those kids in Connecticut find these and other rogue police officers for their new targets. I will get a good laugh when I see that.
THe only problem is this. If the cavity search was so absolutely, unquestionably illegal, then we know the cops would have been immediately arrested a long time ago for it. If a cop just walks up to someone and does something potentially illegal, they at least get suspended with pay while investigation.
Obviously this isn't the case because the women are SUING. You do realize what suing means, right? It means they are trying for a CIVIL cause of action, having given up any possibility of criminal liability.
Nobody is pursuing these cops for any criminal liability.
I know a pat down is different from a cavity search, but apparently, cavity searches aren't as illegal as you think they are, or else they wouldn't ever be done in jails and such....and also, in that case, the cops would have been arrested a long time ago. :)
She was on drugs and throwing stuff out the window. I work in an industry where we're privvy to a lot of RX data, especially the fraudulent. Believe me, the vast majority of people with hydrocodone prescriptions ARE substance abusers. Not just some, most.
I hope these women take Texas to the cleaners. If they'd tossed out a whole garbage can this treatment was uncalled for! It's hideous. How many Texans do I read comments from every day who scream about their 2nd amendment rights and then live in a place where the most basic of constitutional and human rights are ignored? "Thinking he smells something" doesn't even come close to probable cause. These two cops should be in jail charged with rape. Two states I'll never enter, Florida and Texas. After what these women went through someone actually was more concerned about their littering than with the rights of the women?!? What is this country coming to?
They should check for Lead in the state of Texas,& Arizona, that may the utter stupidity of these states representive officals . OR NOT, Some time a nut is just a nut.