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AIKEN COUNTY, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) -- An Aiken couple is suing the Aiken Department of Public Safety, the City of Aiken, and a number of deputies after they say deputies performed an illegal cavity search in public.
The suit alleges gross negligence, recklessness, and other liabilities of officers involved, the management of the department, and the department and city as a whole.
According to the lawsuit, Lakey Hicks and Elijah Pontoon were driving down Richland Avenue in the afternoon on October 2, 2014 in a newly purchased car. Reportedly, an officer pulled the car over because of the paper tag.
The suit alleges the officer asked for both of the plaintiffs I.D.'s and paperwork for the car. It continues to say that the deputy recognized one of the people in the car while he was working on narcotics, so he decides to call for a K9 and search the vehicle.
Reportedly, three other officers and a K9 help search the vehicle and are unable to find anything. Then, it states, the deputies search each of the plaintiffs in broad daylight.
It alleges a female officer lifted up the shirt of Hicks in broad daylight during the search. Then the officers allegedly began a search of Pontoon. The lawsuit states that search included a full cavity search done by multiple officers at the same time, all in public.
After the search, the lawsuit states the couple is given a warning, even though it states no drugs were found on them.
The couple originally filed the suit on September 21, 2015. In November of 2015 it was moved to District Court.
News 12 NBC 26 has reached out to Aiken Public Safety for comment, as well as for copies of the dash camera video from this incident.
