A Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper is accused of groping a woman during a traffic stop over a seat belt, reports say. (THP)
A Tennessee woman alleged in a lawsuit that a state highway patrol officer in August searched her without cause, groped her and waited three hours near her home to stop her again, KnoxNews.com reported.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol issued a statement that supports the trooper, but a state prosecutor criticized Trooper Isaiah Lloyd and said his actions were “inconsistent with his training.”
Jared Effler, the eighth judicial district attorney, told the paper on Thursday that he will likely be unable to charge Lloyd with a crime, but he said he was going to drop a seatbelt ticket issued to Patricia Aileen Wilson.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol reportedly says Lloyd “conducted this traffic stop in a professional manner in an effort to protect the motoring public.” (THP)
“Our review of this matter has been forwarded to Commissioner of Safety and Homeland Security David Purkey, along with a request that the findings of our review be reviewed with Trooper Lloyd to prevent similar incidents in the future,” Effler wrote.
Col. Tracy Trott of the Tennessee Highway Patrol issued a statement that said Lloyd “conducted this traffic stop in a professional manner in an effort to protect the motoring public.” The Knox News reported that there was no mention of the second stop in the statement.
During the first stop, Lloyd asked Wilson twice if she had taken any prescription drugs, the report said.
Wilson said she takes a sleeping aid, the report said. Lloyd asked if it was Ambien. She said that was the one, but said she only takes it every other night.
“I don’t take any narcotics,” she reportedly said. Lloyd responded, “It is a narcotic.”
The paper pointed out that Ambien is not considered a narcotic under U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration guidelines.
The video shows Lloyd—who was hired by the department in 2015 and served with the 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq-- ordering Wilson out of the truck, the report said. Wilson alleges that Lloyd put his hands inside her waistband and touched her buttocks and genital area.
Lloyd stopped Wilson a second time near her home over the tint on her truck windows, the lawsuit alleges, according to the paper. The lawsuit alleges that he told her, “We have to stop meeting like this.” Although the first interaction’s audio was recorded, Lloyd claimed the battery on his microphone died for the second, Effler’s review said.
James A. H. Bell, who represented Lloyd during the department’s review, said Lloyd searched her because she had taken an Ambien, the report said. The paper pointed out that the video does not show Ambien being discussed until the actual search.
The suit seeks $100,000 in damages.
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