Public search of private part nets $35,000 for drug suspect

A Baltimore man who police say they caught with a bag of drugs in his buttocks has scored a double victory: First prosecutors dropped the case, and now the city has agreed to pay $35,000 for his claim that his rights were violated.

Police first stopped Elliott James White in May 2004 after noticing a “bulge” in his sweatpants when he rode past on a bike. He lifted his shirt to reveal a sub sandwich. The officers let him go, but later saw him reach into the back of his pants and hand something to a woman. Believing they’d witnessed a drug deal, officers approached White again.

In his lawsuit, White contended that the officers handcuffed him, pinned him to the ground and “used a stick to forcefully remove a baggie from Plaintiff’s rectum.” 

The officers said an officer put on gloves and pulled the bag from between White’s buttocks only after White refused to remove it himself. According to their pretrial statement, the bag held 22 clear gelcaps thought to contain heroin and nine smaller bags containing what was suspected to be cocaine.

White claimed that the public search, conducted outside a South Baltimore gas station, violated his constitutional rights and caused him emotional distress.

— The Daily Record

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