Alleged strip search draws suit
By:Jay Pateakos, Herald News Staff Reporter
FALL RIVER - A formal complaint has been lodged against the Massachusetts State Police alleging that a female trooper subjected an 18-year-old Fall River woman to a strip search along Reed Road late Wednesday night.
Alyssa Bolduc said she and three friends were on their way home from picking up a friend at the Dartmouth Wal-Mart when the group was pulled over on Reed Road near the Interstate 195 west ramp by the Dartmouth Police Barracks.
"I had
told my friend to slow down because there were always police on Reed Road, and
that's when we saw the police," said Bolduc.
Boduc said the group had just eaten at the Dartmouth Wendy's, and feeling
"overstuffed" after the meal, she had unbuttoned the top button of her pants so
she could "fit the rest of my food."
When the Dartmouth police officers approached the car, according to Bolduc, they
said the reason for stopping them was because they had a headlight out, but she
said it immediately turned into something else.
Bolduc said that she, along with passengers Christine Moniz, 19, Ryan O'Connell,
22, and Brittany Carr, 19, all of Fall River, were asked by the officers if they
had any drugs on them. When the group responded that they didn't, she said they
were asked to step out of the car and that they then began searching the
vehicle, but found nothing.
"They asked why my pants were unbuttoned and I told them I was trying to digest
my food," said Bolduc. "The police starting asking me what I was hiding in my
pants. Then they said they would need to strip search me."
She said the police kept asking the group to give up the drugs they had and if
any of them had prior criminal records.
Bolduc said the officers then radioed the State Police Barracks in Dartmouth for
a female police officer to do the strip search on Bolduc.
When the trooper arrived, identified by the Bolduc as "Trooper Powell," Bolduc
said she was placed in the back seat of the trooper's cruiser, where she was
asked to pull her pants down to her ankles.
"While my legs were hanging outside the car, in that cold weather, the trooper
felt around my pants, and after finding nothing, asked me to pull down my
panties," said Bolduc, who obliged.
Bolduc said the trooper, wearing only leather gloves, began examining her for
any sign of hidden drugs.
Bolduc said the trooper also "squeezed" her breast area, as well as those of the
other two women in the group, but only Bolduc was subjected to the strip search.
Although neither the Dartmouth Police nor the Massachusetts State Police have
released a report of the event, Bolduc said the driver of the car, Christine
Moniz, was given a $35 ticket for driving without a license and the passenger,
Ryan O'Connell, was given a $35 ticket for allowing an unlicensed person to
operate the car. Bolduc did not receive a ticket and was not arrested.
State Police spokesman Robert Bousquet said the incident was "under
investigation" and would not comment on the case or the name of the trooper.
On Friday morning, Bolduc filed a complaint with the state police on the
incident and hired attorney Brian Cunha.
"The fact that a state trooper required this 18-year-old girl to drop her pants
and underwear on the side of the road in that 10 degree weather is
unbelievable," said Cunha. "There were no arrests and the police just asked
these kids to leave afterward."
Cunha, who has also not been privy to the official police report from Dartmouth
or state police, said he was informed by the Dartmouth Police that they had
discovered roaches in the car's ashtray, a statement all four passengers denied.
According to the State Police strip search policy, the search must be in "an
area that affords complete privacy" and should not be conducted outside a
Department facility "unless exigent circumstances exist." The policy also says
that the strip search should also be held outside of the public view and should
not include any touching whatsoever.
E-mail Jay Pateakos at
jpateakos@heraldnews.com.
May 28, 2005
Briefs
STAFF; The Republican (Springfield, MA)
STURBRIDGE
Firearms seized
A state trooper arrested three men and seized two loaded firearms after a
traffic stop on Route 84 early yesterday.
Trooper Richard Watson pulled over a black Honda traveling eastbound at
approximately 4:45 a.m. and arrested the driver, Jose E. Ocasio, 21, of
Brooklyn, N.Y., for being unlicensed. Two passengers, Leo Colon, 19, and Earthy
McMillan, 34, were arrested for giving false names to Watson, according to state
police reports.
Troopers Timothy Weldon and Allyson Powell found two loaded firearms in the
car's passenger compartment, a 9 mm semiautomatic and a .38-caliber revolver.
All three are still in custody and the investigating in ongoing, police said.
May 8, 2003
Regional Digest
Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)
Both men were to be arraigned
in Dudley District Court yesterday.
According to state police, Trooper John Conron saw an Isuzu Rodeo heading
eastbound on I-84 at 1:50 a.m. with a loose license plate that was difficult to
read. He tried to stop the vehicle, but the driver continued on. The vehicle
pulled over after Trooper Conron saw a plastic bag thrown out the window,
according to police. Troopers John Boland and Allyson Powell searched the area
and found the bag.
November 20, 2002
Farrier charged with animal cruelty
Union-News (Springfield, MA)
KIM RING; STAFF; Union-News (Springfield, Mass.) 
The state reminded Brimfield it must conduct annual animal inspections, after a dead pony was found on a farm.
PALMER - A local man will be
back in court facing animal cruelty charges early next year, and a state
official said the town of Brimfield could be fined if required animal
inspections aren't completed soon.
David F. Reed, 56, of 144 Little Alum Road, Brimfield, was arrested Sunday after
police with a warrant searched his property and retrieved the carcass of a dead
pony. The pony was the subject of a search Saturday after police received a call
that it was roaming the neighborhood.
State Trooper Allyson M. Powell said she noticed that the pony was sick after
finding it at a Little Alum Road residence. She expected it to be euthanized
when it was returned to Reed but the pony was "left to suffer" until much later
in the day when it either died or was euthanized.
For Reed, the animal cruelty charge is the second in the last 25 years. He was
convicted in 1977 of animal cruelty, officials said. He has worked as a farrier
for 32 years, shoeing horses around the area and cares for several horses at his
farm, his court-appointed lawyer said.
Assistant District Attorney William J. Powers IV, told Palmer District Court
Judge John Payne that Reed had a record that included several warrants in the
past and a history of substance abuse problems.