A New Mexico man claims police officers subjected him to anal probes, enemas, body X-rays and a colonoscopy after stopping him for a minor traffic violation.
David Eckert says he was pulled over for not making a complete traffic stop as he left a Wal-Mart car park, in Deming.
Eckert’s attorney Shannon Kennedy told KOB-4 one of the officers believed her client was clenching his buttocks, prompting them to suspect he was concealing drugs in his anal cavity.
Despite his denials, the lawsuit claims the 53-year-old was taken to a local emergency room where a doctor refused to carry out an anal cavity search, citing it “unethical”.
Eckert was then taken to a nearby medical centre, where the channel details:
1.Eckert’s abdominal area was X-rayed; no narcotics were found.
2.Doctors then performed an exam of Eckert’s anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.
3.Doctors performed a second exam of Eckert’s anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.
4.Doctors penetrated Eckert’s anus to insert an enema. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.
5.Doctors penetrated Eckert’s anus to insert an enema a second time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.
6.Doctors penetrated Eckert’s anus to insert an enema a third time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.
7.Doctors then X-rayed Eckert again; no narcotics were found.
8.Doctors prepared Eckert for surgery, sedated him, and then performed a colonoscopy where a scope with a camera was inserted into Eckert’s anus, rectum, colon, and large intestines. No narcotics were found.
Now it is being reported that Eckert is being billed thousands of dollars for the “illegal, invasive and painful medical procedures,” the lawsuit alleges.
Kennedy described her client’s ordeal as “sadistic”.
In 20 years of practice, Kennedy told the Las Cruces Sun News she had never seen such a level of law enforcement abuse, adding: “I don’t know why they thought they could do this.”
The Associated Press cites court responses claiming Eckert “was known in Hidalgo County to insert drugs into his anal cavity.”
"It's terrifying," ACLU attorney Laura Schauer Ives told the agency in a further interview.
"I think law enforcement has been emboldened, particularly when it comes to drug interdiction. It's kind of anything goes. You couple that with drug interdiction at the border and you have a recipe for serious civil liberties violations."
Deming Police Chief Brandan Gigante says his department "follows the law in every aspect and follow procedures and protocols we have in place."