If you’re in Chattanooga, Tennessee and Officer Daniel Wilkey tries to pull you over, you might just wanna keep on truckin’.
He may’ve violated a constitutional right or 12, and you don’t wanna be Lucky 13.
According to a recently-filed lawsuit, Daniel engaged in some mighty squirrelly behavior with Sandle Riley.
Here goes the allegation:
Sometime between 10 and 11 p.m. on July 6th, Daniel followed Shandle from a gas station to her friend’s house, at which point he claimed she was hiding meth.
Therefore, he gave her a full-body patdown.
That would be every area of her.
Then he demanded she “reach under her shirt and pull out her bra and shake the bra and shirt.”
This was to prove she wasn’t holding any of the ol’ Breaking Bad bounty.
Shandle had asked, by the way, for a female officer to search her. Daniel told her the law doesn’t give her that right.
I’d like to say at this point that, where I come from, the situation would already mean someone’s likely gettin’ some redneck comeuppance. And I don’t mean in court.
Moving on…
Daniel asked if she had any contraband, and Shandle admitted to a marijuana roach in her pack of cigarettes.
He called her a “piece of sh**” but eventually offered a deal.
From Fox17:
Wilkey then asked her if she was “saved” and believed in Jesus Christ. She responded that she believed in Jesus Christ, but that she was not “saved” by her own choice.
The lawsuit goes on to say Wilkey told Riley that “God was talking to him during the vehicle search, and [he] felt the Lord wanted him to baptize the plaintiff.,” and said that he felt “the spirit.”
Wilkey then told Riley to get towels inside the home for a baptism, and said he would issue her only a criminal citation for marijuana and not take her to jail, according to the lawsuit. Riley says she got the towels, and followed Wilkey in his patrol car, not saying where he was taking her. Riley says she was afraid to ignore Wilkey and not do as he commanded.
Another cop — Jacob Goforth — met up with ’em at the lake. Daniel explained that baptism isn’t “valid” without a witness.
He then stripped to his boxers and told Shandle she was welcome to ditch her duds. She chose to keep on the clothes.
#ProbablyBetter
And now, Revered Daniel does his duty:
The lawsuit says Wilkey then stripped down to his boxer shorts, and gave Riley the option to remove her clothes, which she declined. It says Wilkey then led her to waist deep, cold water, put one hand on her back and the other on her breasts, and submerged her underwater for “several moments.” At this moment, Riley says she “felt horribly violated.”
Was her bra still off?
Then, according to the lawsuit, Wilkey used one towel to dry off and let Riley dry off with the other one, while Goforth “smirked” at her as she was using it.
The citation indicates Shandle was pulled over due to tinted windows and an obstructed tag.
Shandle pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance. Her sentence was suspended, but she’s still on probation.
–And seeking $1,000,000 in compensatory damages, along with a cool $10 mil in punitive.
So says the suit against Hamilton County, Daniel, and Jacob.
This is one 🦇💩 police lawsuit. After pulling a woman over and searching her for drugs, a Tennessee deputy said if she let him baptize her he'd just give her a citation, then drove her to some lake at night in February and dunked her.
(…)
Whathttps://t.co/tHM5AzooT3 pic.twitter.com/CGXDecZrdz
— Peter Bonilla (@pebonilla) October 2, 2019
BREAKING: A second lawsuit involving Hamilton Co. Dep. Daniel Wilkey accuses him of stripping to his underwear and baptizing a drug suspect https://t.co/1uD3fI9oRs
— Latricia Thomas (@LatriciaTnc9) October 1, 2019
Surely that’d be enough to get Daniel fired.
But wait — there’s more!
He’s the subject of at least one another suit, over what appears to be an insatiable need to put his fingers where they don’t belong. And I don’t mean up his nose.
Again, the alleged incident:
Daniel and Deputy Bobby Brewer pulled over Latisha Menifee on July 10th, on a false window tint violation.
Daniel told her and her passenger, James Mitchell, he could smell weed while he was following ’em.
The officers pulled Latisha out of the car and later cuffed her.
James admitted he indeed did have marijuana, and they braceleted him, too.
Daniel and Bobby then did a bit of this, as per the filing:
“Wilkey then began to grab James’ genitals. When James told Wilkey that (he) had an untreated and large hernia and that Wilkey’s actions were causing (him) pain, Brewer and Wilkey jerked James’ arms high above his back, and slammed James face-down onto the hot engine hood, causing injury….”
And, from ABC9:
The lawsuit says the deputies then beat Mitchell with “fists, knees, and feet,” and slammed him to the ground. It was then, according to the lawsuit, that they removed his pants and shoes, while continuing to beat him.
Next, the dynamic duo picked up James and bent him over the patrol car. Daniel put on gloves (never a good sign), pulled down James’s underwear, and let his fingers do the walking into a stranger’s rectum.
He “conducted an anal cavity search of James.”
Taxpayers Held Liable After Video Shows Cops (DANIEL WILKEY & BOBBY BREWER FROM HAMILTON COUNTY, TENNESSEE) Search Man's Anal Cavity Over Window Tint Stop https://t.co/GkIgwdYvQj
— USMCA Is NAFTA+TPP=RUN By The UN (@truthseeker6761) October 9, 2019
The lawsuit says Menifee watched all this happen in horror, and caused her to fear that she would be treated the same way. She also says she was afraid the deputies would shoot and kill Mitchell.
They unshackled Latisha, “told her that she did not see anything,” and asked her to get outta there.
And there was this:
The lawsuit says after he was booked at the Hamilton County Jail, Mitchell was treated for several injuries. It also claims Deputy Wilkey “unlawfully seized cash” from him.
A medical examination later revealed suffered “tearing in his anus, and multiple contusions,” along with an aggravation of a hernia that eventually required surgery, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit says Mitchell suffered “mental anguish, fear of death or grievous bodily harm, and humiliation. It also claims Menifee had similar symptoms.
The complaint requests $2,000,000 go to both James and Latisha for compensatory damages. And it places an order for $15 Big Ones in punitive.
Which all leads me to this:
Who’s doing the hiring for Hamilton County????
The lawsuit says the county created an atmosphere that allowed excessive force without punishment pic.twitter.com/2z7RtoQN0e
— Latricia Thomas (@LatriciaTnc9) October 1, 2019
In regards to the strip search, the lawsuit says… pic.twitter.com/nUZi5rO5AI
— Latricia Thomas (@LatriciaTnc9) October 1, 2019
The lawsuit goes on to cite several examples of reported law enforcement brutality, saying that Hamilton County fostered a culture of corruption that permitted the two deputies to behave the way it claims they did.
Both lawsuits were filed on the same day.
Against the same cop.
Therefore, I reference my opening statement.
Now I ask you: If these guys have been accurately accused (and video and audio aren’t suggesting otherwise), what do you think will happen, and what do you think should?
I anxiously await.
-ALEX
See 3 more pieces from me:
WATCH: Arizona Cops Terrorize Family In ‘One Of The Most Cruel…Cases Of…Misconduct…Ever Seen’
Find all my RedState work here.
And please follow Alex Parker on Twitter and Facebook.
Thank you for reading! Please sound off in the Comments section below.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member