SOUTH STRABANE, Pa. — A Washington County woman said that she was strip-searched on the side of Interstate 70 in South Strabane by a Pennsylvania State Police trooper this summer after being pulled over for traveling 5 mph over the speed limit, according to our news partners at Trib Live.
Holly Elish, 34, of Bentleyville, said in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday that she was heading home from work on June 27 when she was pulled over for speeding.
Trooper Brian Rousseau pulled behind Elish’s vehicle and was following her at a close distance, prompting her to put on her hazard lights — to notify the trooper she intended to pull over, according to the complaint.
However, Rousseau did not immediately attempt to stop Elish, the lawsuit continued, so she turned off her flashers and attempted to take the next exit. It was then, it continued, that Rousseau activated his emergency lights. Elish pulled over, and when the trooper approached her car, she gave him her identification, the complaint said.
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Rousseau returned to his vehicle for a few minutes, and then walked back to Elish’s passenger side window, the lawsuit said, where he asked her consent to search the vehicle.
Elish refused, and Rousseau replied “something like ‘he had the right to search her vehicle,’” the complaint said.
Around the same time, another trooper, who is unnamed in the complaint, arrived and spoke with Rousseau outside of Elish’s hearing.
The troopers then asked Elish to exit her vehicle and again asked for permission to search it.
You can read this full story on TribLive.com.
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