Woman suing police over unwarranted strip search
Mikey 7 comments
Fifteen months ago forty one year old Hope Steffey endured a sickening horror. Her cousin called the police for help to report an assault, saying Steffey had been assaulted by another cousin. When a Deputy arrived he asked for some identification, and Steffey accidentally handed over her dead sisters licence, which she carries around as a memento. When she realised her error and asked for it back the Deputy said "shut up about your dead sister".
Steffey was arrested and the rest will shock you. She ended up spending the night in jail herself but not before being strip searched and assaulted herself.
Steffey was never asked to remove her clothes but was forced to the ground, hand cuffed and left lying in the cell naked for 6 hours. During her ordeal she suffered sever bruising, a bulged disc and a cracked tooth, not to mention the mental scaring she will carry for the rest of her life.
The assault was filmed. Be warned: The following video is not pleasant.
After watching this you feel like letting the Star County Sheriff's Office know what you think of their treatment of an innocent people, feel free to send them an email: .
Rodney
Tuesday 5th February 2008 | 01:23 AMRemoved her clothes "for her own safety"? wtf?
Look at the stupid, fat, redneck excuses for cops involved, too... Just a bunch of power-hungry jerks. I hope they nail the lot of them to the wall.
andrew
Tuesday 5th February 2008 | 07:26 PMi wonder how the female cop felt doing what she had to?
John
Thursday 9th April 2009 | 11:21 PMThis is the BCI report that Agent Christy S. Palmer sent to John D. Ferrero, Prosecuting Attorney Stark County Ohio.
Dated April 16, 2008 BCI Case #: SI-76-08-14-0147
This is part of page 3
http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y39/Zemo999/?action=view¤t=BCI-Report.jpg
Sheriff Swanson has ALWAYS maintained that Steffey was ASKED & REFUSED to remove her cloths.
But heres the BCIs OWN REPORT that PROVES this is a LIE!
And then they try to explain away their first lie with another lie, about why it was done this way without asking Steffey to do it voluntarily.
They are trying to say that Steffey was resisting enough that EIGHT people (5 women, 3 men) couldn't take the chance of ASKING her to remove her cloths, or EVEN TELL HER WHAT WAS GOING ON!!!
What a crock!!
I did NOT see any resisting in the video, I saw eight cops parading her to the cell, with her in cuffs.
In fact EVERY video I have seen she is in cuffs!
And the ONLY times I have seen her react to the cops is after they have assaulted her or in the process of stripping her naked.
But apparently catching the sheriff's dept in a lie isn't a big deal to our "independent" BCI investigator, Christy Palmer, who seems ready to accept ANY excuse the sheriff's dept wants to use.
The report also goes on to say that they lowered Steffey in a slow controlled manner to the floor. Except that Steffey says she was thrown to the floor.
She also told her husband in a phone call that she thought the cops had broken her nose.
And she was treated by the nurse for the injury.
And in page 4 of this report Christy Palmer even states that Steffey reported that her nose was making "crunching noises".
So I guess this is proof of a second LIE! (Or third)
And still Christy Palmer, the "independent investigator" doesnt think twice about accepting the word of the cops over the VICTIMS in spite of proof.
BTW, Christy also references a video that she says proves that she was lowered in a slow controlled manner to the floor. As far as I know, THIS would have to be on the 'non-existent' beginning of the strip video.
On May 5th when I asked about the "missing" video, I was told it would soon be released.
Now here again it looks as though its referenced...even though they NOW claim it does not exist.
Interesting. (I have filed a request for this video.)
This isnt so much an investigation report as it is a smear campaign against Hope Steffey.
The cops can polish this turd as much as want, this STILL STINKS!
BTW I don't know why they bothered to black out the names of Nurse Coren Lennon and the jail psychologist Thomas Anuszkiewicz, aren't they PROUD of the work they do?
John
Wednesday 13th July 2011 | 10:20 PMWhen I contacted the investigators I asked a few questions to see just how through this investigation was.
I asked of any of the other 5 women had been interviewed to show a pattern of abuse at the jail? ANS: NO
Did you examine the camera that magically fixes itself, or see if it had ever failed before or after this case. ANS: NO
Did you polygraph anyone to verify the TRUTH of their statements? ANS: NO
Did you go over all the jail policies concerning a suicide prevention? ANS: NO
Do you have ANY evidence that a doctor put Steffey on suicide watch? ANS: NO
How can someone be TOO suicidal for a suit DESIGNED for the purpose?
ANS: None, no answer at all
NO ONE I have ever contacted could answer this question
Wow they really dug for the TRUTH in this case huh? (This also is SARCASM, since I know none of the Stark County cops know the difference.)
John
Wednesday 13th July 2011 | 10:27 PMThe last successful hanging in the Stark County Jail was in 2005. This inmate had visited the Stark County Jail 26 times prior and never exhibited any suicidal tendencies.
This time he too was placed on suicide precautions and was still able to take his own life.
http://www.sheriff.co.stark.oh.us/mr020219.htm (This link is no longer good, since I commented in the paper about the deputies being charged with murder.)
NEVER exhibited ANY suicidal tendencies with 26 visits, UNTIL he too was placed on suicide precautions.
Looks as though their policy is contributing to suicides, not preventing them.
I had contacted the Bureau of Adult Detention & found that they were in the process of making rule changes.
But now I got more info about the Bureau of Adult Detention, Ohio Jail Advisory Board. I think I found the reason the rule changes never were put into effect. I was looking through the board members and I saw Mike McDonald's name!!!
This is the head of the Stark County Jail that helped cover up the Hope Steffey case!!
Here Swanson is saying that they followed the "jail standards", but seems he forgot to mention that his chief deputy in charge of the jail has a HUGE conflict of interest by being on that board!
And now after THREE YEARS of review & study the changes are NOT going to be made...then finding this out...
And now here we have Mike McDonald trying to run for sheriff, and some people are trying to say that he is NOT part of the "good old boy' system.
What a laugh...this guy is right in the middle of this mess!!
John
Wednesday 13th July 2011 | 10:33 PMBTW you have a small photo of Steffey in the upper right of Steffey being assaulted, but what you probably can't see because of the size of the pix is that she has a bloody nose. (Her right nostril.)
And yet Swanson claimed her face was not rammed into the floor as she claimed...a poor lie is better than none, but it should at least be believable!!
andrew
Monday 4th February 2008 | 05:09 PMwhat a horrible thing for this woman to endure, i hope her lawyers have a field day with the sheriff and his deputy's, if they do get charged with something then maybe they will have to endure the same thing, what goes around comes around..