Dashcam video of a controversial police pat-down on a female driver has been released.
Prosecutors in Campbell County, Tennessee said on Monday that Trooper Isaiah Lloyd was cleared of criminal wrongdoing in two traffic stops of Patricia Wilson on August 16.
Mother-of-two Wilson has claimed in a $100,000 lawsuit against the Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper that he’d used his police powers to sexually harass her and touched her inappropriately.
The first traffic stop occurred on Interstate 75 in Northeast Tennessee, not far from the Kentucky border. Wilson was on her way to her evening janitorial job when Lloyd pulled her over for not wearing a seatbelt.
The dashcam video shows Lloyd ask her if she is under the influence as she exits her vehicle, a black pickup truck.
‘No, I do no drugs, no nothing, swear to God,’ Wilson replies.
The trooper has her place her hands on the hood of his vehicle and bend over, and then pats down her waistband area for about 15 seconds.
Trooper Isaiah Lloyd was cleared of criminal wrongdoing on Monday
He then asks her to shake out her bra to show there’s nothing hidden in it.
The trooper then continues to question her about drug use, to which she replies that she occasionally takes prescription Ambien to help her sleep.
Lloyd informs Wilson that Ambien is a narcotic and administers field sobriety tests.
Ambien is not classified as a narcotic by the DEA.
The field sobriety tests continue for about six minutes and include an eye nystagmus test, heel-to-toe walking, and counting with one leg raised six inches from the ground.
The second stop was about three hours later. Wilson was returning from work in the same truck and this time had her two children, ages eight and three, in the vehicle.
Lloyd accused Wilson of having windows that were overly tinted and said she was ‘all over the road’ according to her lawsuit as reported by WATE.
The dashcam video shows Lloyd ask her if she is under the influence as she exits her vehicle, a black pickup truck. ‘No, I do no drugs, no nothing, swear to God,’ Wilson replies.
Though she is only wearing a t-shirt and tight jean shorts, the trooper decided to search her
The trooper has her place her hands on the hood of his vehicle and bend over
He pats down her waistband area for about 15 seconds searching for contraband
The video from the second stop does not show Wilson exit the vehicle and their conversation cannot be heard.
According to the suit, Lloyd told Wilson during that stop: ‘We have to stop meeting like this.’
The suit says Lloyd said he had already gotten Wilson ‘out of two tickets during the earlier stop and would not ticket her for the window tint.’
The district attorney general’s office reviewed the dashcam footage and Lloyd’s actions before clearing him.
In a statement, the DA’s office found the actions could not, ‘form the basis for any criminal charge against him.’
A district attorney reviewed the video and cleared Lloyd of criminal wrongdoing
‘Our review of this matter revealed that Trooper Lloyd’s actions were inconsistent with his training and Tennessee Department of Safety General Orders,’ the statement said.
‘However, we do not believe that Trooper Lloyd’s actions during his encounters with Ms. Wilson in Campbell County on August 16, 2017 form the basis for any criminal charge against him.’
The Tennessee Highway Patrol disagreed with the DA that there had been any breach of professionalism.
‘After careful consideration and review, the Tennessee Highway Patrol Command Staff has advised me that Trooper Isaiah Lloyd conducted this traffic stop in a professional manner in an effort to protect the motoring public,’ THP Col. Tracy Trott said in a statement.
The DA said that he had dropped the seat belt ticket that Lloyd wrote Wilson.
Trooper Lloyd has been placed back on active duty.