An Illinois woman is suing because she was strip searched by sheriff's deputies after she was arrested for DUI. INSIDE EDITION has the story.
A beautiful woman was pinned down and stripped naked by deputy sheriffs—and it was all caught on surveillance video.
The woman is 33-year-old Dana Holmes. She lives outside of Chicago.
The drama began when she was pulled over for speeding and appeared to be drunk.
"Can you just give me breathalyzer?" Holmes asked one of the deputies.
Police gave her a field sobriety test, a breathalyser and busted her for driving over three times the legal limit. On a recorded dash cam video, Holmes asked, "Are you arresting me?"
The sheriff's deparment replied,"Yes, I am arresting you for DUI."
"Are you serious?" questioned Holmes.
Surveillance video at the LaSalle County Sheriff's Department in Illinois showed her up against a wall being patted down by a female deputy while two male deputies watched.
Suddenly, the scene turned violent; the deputies claimed she tried to kick them. They overpowered her, wrestled her to the floor, then hauled her out of the room.
She was carried into a cell where her pants were pulled off.
In a phone interview with WLS-TV in Chicago, Dana Holmes said she was afraid she was going to be sexually assaulted.
"I felt helpless, and I was scared. I just laid there crying; I just prayed," said Holmes.
She was left naked on the floor until blankets were thrown into the cell.
A police report said she was "mouthy and causing problems."
Dana Holmes claimed in court papers that she was "humiliated, degraded, and dehumanized."
INSIDE EDITION's Les Trent spoke with her attorney, Terry Ekl, who said, "You can look at video and you can see that she did not do anything that would justify that kind of conduct. This wasn't a search, it was just a stripping to humiliate and dehumanize her, and I find the actions absolutely reprehensible."
"I hope they lose their jobs," said Holmes.
