Ontario Woman Sues Over Strip-Search At Ambassador Bridge
DETROIT (WWJ) - An angry and embarrassed Ontario woman who says she was strip-searched at the Ambassador Bridge without justification has sued two U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.
The Detroit Free Press says Loretta Van Beek of Stratford filed the suit in Detroit federal court against the unnamed agents. She says she was en route to her Georgia vacation home last March when one agent strip-searched and groped her while the other one watched.
Van Beek says she was detained for two hours, then sent to a windowless cell and ordered to strip because she neglected to disclose she had raspberries in her vehicle.
The lawsuit claims one agent aggressively groped her breasts and genital area while the other watched. Van Beek says she was then photographed and fingerprinted and sent back to Canada.
Attorney S. Thomas Wienner of Rochester tells the Free Press the experience traumatized Van Beek and "She's concerned she might not be the only victim."
Customs and Border Patrol says it cannot comment on pending litigation.
