Buchanan County is being sued for the alleged actions of a deputy criminally charged with soliciting sexual favors from a woman during a traffic stop.
Britni Wright of Black Hawk County is suing Buchanan County and former sheriff’s deputy Klint Bentley in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, alleging extortion, assault, invasion of privacy, acceptance of a bribe, official misconduct, unreasonable seizure and due process violations.
In her lawsuit, Wright alleges that around 10 p.m. on Feb. 4, 2022, Bentley activated the emergency lights on his police cruiser and stopped her car near 120th Street and Fairbank-Amish Boulevard in Hazelton. According to the lawsuit, Bentley made the traffic stop by falsely claiming Wright was traveling at more than 80 miles per hour in a 55-mph zone.
The lawsuit alleges that when Bentley first approached Wright’s vehicle and began to talk to her, he was wearing a body camera. After the two spoke, Bentley went back to his cruiser with Wright’s driver’s license and Wright pulled out her cell phone, hit the ‘record’ button, and placed the phone on the seat next to her.
When Bentley returned to Wright’s car, the lawsuit claims, he was no longer wearing a body camera and implied several times that he should get something in return for not giving her a ticket, asking her several times, “What’s in it for me?”
“Bentley was a strange man, acting lustfully,” the lawsuit alleges, asserting that Bentley “kept asking if he could see Wright’s boobs.”
Klint Bentley (courtesy photo)
In her lawsuit, Wright claims she suggested Bentley write her a ticket for her car lights not working properly and that in response Bentley refused and kept suggesting she expose herself. “When it became clear that Bentley was not going to let her go without exposing herself, Wright kept her composure and came up with the idea of promising to send Bentley pictures of her body” once she got home, the lawsuit alleges.
Bentley allegedly agreed to the proposition, took Wright’s cell phone number, and then followed up by texting her and soliciting nude photos from her while telling her she was sexy. The lawsuit Wright filed includes what are purported to be screenshots of those text messages. Wright did not send any photos to Bentley, according to the lawsuit.
On Feb. 11, 2022, one week after the traffic stop and 16 months after he was hired by the county, Bentley was fired by the sheriff’s office, according to county records.
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Bentley has a “history of engaging in similar conduct with women whom he pulled over for pretextual traffic stops,” the lawsuit claims, but it does not elaborate.
The traffic stop involving Wright led to criminal charges being filed against Bentley in June 2022, four months after the incident. Bentley was charged with felony acceptance of a bribe, felony extortion and the misdemeanor offense of misconduct in office.
⧉ Related article: Former Buchanan County sheriff’s deputy charged with extortion
Pursuant to a plea agreement with prosecutors, the two felony charges were dismissed by the court and Bentley pleaded guilty to the misconduct charge. He was sentenced to 365 days in jail, with 350 days of that sentence suspended by the court, and he was placed on probation for two years.
Bentley and the county have yet to file a response to the lawsuit. County Attorney Shawn Harden declined to comment on the case, and Bentley could not be reached for comment.
This article first appeared in the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Britni Wright of Black Hawk County is suing Buchanan County and former sheriff’s deputy Klint Bentley in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, alleging extortion, assault, invasion of privacy, acceptance of a bribe, official misconduct, unreasonable seizure and due process violations.
In her lawsuit, Wright alleges that around 10 p.m. on Feb. 4, 2022, Bentley activated the emergency lights on his police cruiser and stopped her car near 120th Street and Fairbank-Amish Boulevard in Hazelton. According to the lawsuit, Bentley made the traffic stop by falsely claiming Wright was traveling at more than 80 miles per hour in a 55-mph zone.
The lawsuit alleges that when Bentley first approached Wright’s vehicle and began to talk to her, he was wearing a body camera. After the two spoke, Bentley went back to his cruiser with Wright’s driver’s license and Wright pulled out her cell phone, hit the ‘record’ button, and placed the phone on the seat next to her.
When Bentley returned to Wright’s car, the lawsuit claims, he was no longer wearing a body camera and implied several times that he should get something in return for not giving her a ticket, asking her several times, “What’s in it for me?”
“Bentley was a strange man, acting lustfully,” the lawsuit alleges, asserting that Bentley “kept asking if he could see Wright’s boobs.”
In her lawsuit, Wright claims she suggested Bentley write her a ticket for her car lights not working properly and that in response Bentley refused and kept suggesting she expose herself. “When it became clear that Bentley was not going to let her go without exposing herself, Wright kept her composure and came up with the idea of promising to send Bentley pictures of her body” once she got home, the lawsuit alleges.
Bentley allegedly agreed to the proposition, took Wright’s cell phone number, and then followed up by texting her and soliciting nude photos from her while telling her she was sexy. The lawsuit Wright filed includes what are purported to be screenshots of those text messages. Wright did not send any photos to Bentley, according to the lawsuit.
On Feb. 11, 2022, one week after the traffic stop and 16 months after he was hired by the county, Bentley was fired by the sheriff’s office, according to county records.
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Bentley has a “history of engaging in similar conduct with women whom he pulled over for pretextual traffic stops,” the lawsuit claims, but it does not elaborate.
The traffic stop involving Wright led to criminal charges being filed against Bentley in June 2022, four months after the incident. Bentley was charged with felony acceptance of a bribe, felony extortion and the misdemeanor offense of misconduct in office.
⧉ Related article: Former Buchanan County sheriff’s deputy charged with extortion
Pursuant to a plea agreement with prosecutors, the two felony charges were dismissed by the court and Bentley pleaded guilty to the misconduct charge. He was sentenced to 365 days in jail, with 350 days of that sentence suspended by the court, and he was placed on probation for two years.
Bentley and the county have yet to file a response to the lawsuit. County Attorney Shawn Harden declined to comment on the case, and Bentley could not be reached for comment.
This article first appeared in the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
