Dispatcher Lawsuit Still Active

A U.S. District Court judge has decided a judgement against a former Illinois State Trooper who conducted a traffic stop on a couple, and then made them strip naked as punishment for a traffic violation. The trooper was ordered to pay each of the defendants $500,000 in damages in the civil trial. The case brings to a close just one of the civil actions sparked by the June 2005 incident. The defendants’ civil lawsuit against the trooper’s supervisor and a State Police dispatcher are still in progress. The couple alleges they dialed 911 to report the misconduct and spoke to dispatcher Jennifer Anderson, who told them where to drive to meet a trooper. According to the lawsuit, Anderson then dispatched the same trooper to meet the couple, which resulted in a pursuit. Download (pdf) the original lawsuit here, and Anderson’s response to lawsuit here.