FORNEY, Texas — A civil lawsuit was filed against the City of Forney and its police chief by a woman who was mistakenly pulled over in August 2014 and subjected to a felony police stop.
FORNEY, Texas — A civil lawsuit was filed against the City of Forney and its police chief by a woman who was mistakenly pulled over in August 2014 and subjected to a felony police stop.
On August 9, 2014, Kametra Barbour was traveling eastbound in a burgundy Nissan Maxima on U.S. Highway 80 through Forney, Texas, with four children, all under the age of 10, when they were mistakenly pulled over by Forney police officers who were searching for a beige- or tan-colored Toyota with four black males and a gun.
Barbour, in the civil lawsuit filed Monday, alleges the officers subjected herself and the children to “unlawful detention and seizure … in violation of each of their Fourth Amendment rights.”
After being stopped, Barbour was ordered out of her vehicle at gunpoint and placed in handcuffs. After one of the minor children exited the vehicle, officers ceased the felony stop and holstered their weapons — apologizing to Barbour for the mistake.
The suit alleges the officers “were not trained on how to determine which car to stop based on descriptions given from dispatch as well as distinguish between male and females and difference between children and adult males.”
“Defendants subjected each and every Plaintiff to false arrest, imprisonment, deprivation of liberty, and humiliation without reasonable or probable cause,” states the suit.
A statement from the Forney Police Department in the weeks following the traffic stop stated, “The Officers acted accordingly and professionally based on the information they were given at the time of the traffic stop, and they adjusted their methods accordingly when the situation presented itself to be otherwise.”
The officers made the stop based on a 911 caller’s statements through the departments dispatch center. According to dash cam video of the stop which was released to inForney.com last year, officers were following two cars simultaneously when the 911 caller stated “you got him” but the wrong officer was advised they had the correct vehicle resulting in Barbour’s vehicle being stopped.
The 911 caller called back and advised dispatch the officers had pulled over the wrong vehicle but dispatch believed the vehicle with the correct license plate was already pulled over and therefore did not notify the officers who were now in the process of ordering Barbour out of her vehicle.
“The City of Forney has been made aware of the civil lawsuit filed against it on Monday, stemming from a traffic stop on August 9, 2014. The City is unable to comment at this time because the matter is now in litigation, and it will address all claims going forward in the appropriate venue,” the City of Forney responded to an inForney.com inquiry.
The lawsuit is seeking a jury trial to determine compensatory damages.
