2nd Trooper Suspended After Irving Cavity Search
IRVING (CBSDFW.COM) - The Texas Department of Public Safety has suspended a second state trooper in connection with the controversial roadside body cavity search of two women in Irving. The incident was caught on the trooper's dashcam video.
Texas DPS said that it suspended state trooper David Ferrell with pay on December 21. The department had already suspended female state trooper Kelley Helleson, who conducted the actual search of the women.
Angel Dobbs, 38, and her 24-year-old niece filed a federal lawsuit against the two troopers and Texas DPS director Steven McGraw. The women claim that, last July, Ferrell pulled them over for throwing cigarettes out from their car. Ferrell claimed that he smelled marijuana in the car, the women said, and called for Helleson to come search the women at the scene.
Dashcam video shows Helleson putting on gloves before pulling down the women's pants to conduct a search. Dobbs said that they were violated by the trooper.
The women filed a complaint last fall, and Texas DPS had the Texas Rangers investigate the allegations. The Rangers sent their findings to Dallas County prosecutors. A county grand jury will now consider the case this month.
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