NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) -- A Portsmouth police officer filed a federal lawsuit against three Suffolk police officers, saying that the officers violated his Fourth Amendment rights.
The lawsuit was filed on April 18. The complaint states that Robert ("Mike") Holley, Jr. called emergency dispatchers on October 21, 2017 after a family member stopped breathing.
The family member was a 3-month-old granddaughter who died.
Capt. Janet Brandsase, Sgt. Gary Myrick, and Officer Rebecca Boback with the Suffolk Police Department came to Holley's home in Suffolk, looked into the matter, then left.
Holley alleges the three officers returned to the house moments later, telling him they needed to search the home. Holley would not give consent without a search warrant:
Upon being met with this apparently troubling information, Defendant Myrick then proceeded to enter into Plaintiff’s residence, grabbed Plaintiff’s person and ultimately detained Plaintiff in the front yard of his property while Defendant Boback took it upon herself to enter the family home without a search warrant or any other legal justification whatsoever.
The complaint states it was made clear that throughout the encounter with the officers Holley was not free to leave and that only after Boback completed her search of the home was Holley allowed to go back inside.
Holley's contention is that throughout the incident, the officers violated his Fourth Amendment rights which, in part, enable people to be free of unreasonable searches of property without a search warrant or any other legal justification.
Holley is asking for $1,000,000 in damages ($650,000 compensatory, $350,000 punitive) as well as costs associated with the case.
Complaint Stating Suffolk Officers Violated Portsmouth Officer's Constitutional Rights by 13News Now on Scribd
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