The woman, Stephanie Bottom of Atlanta, who is Black, said she was driving to a funeral and posing no threat to the officers when they stopped her on Interstate 85 for driving 80 mph in a 70 mph zone and failing to heed blue lights. Once officers stopped her car, they approached her with guns drawn, she said.
She contended in the lawsuit that the officers from the Salisbury Police Department and Rowan County Sheriff’s office used excessive force, in violation of the U.S. Constitution. The suit was filed in federal court in the Middle District of North Carolina.
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Bottom said she was driving to Raleigh for her great aunt’s funeral on the night of May 30, 2019. She said she was playing loud music inside her car and initially didn’t realize that police were trying to stop her. Once she did realize police were behind her, she said, she tried to find a place to pull off the road — “somewhere safe where I’d be around lights and people.”
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While following Bottom, Officer Barkalow referred toBottom by several derogatory terms that were recorded by his body camera, according to the sui
“Within five seconds of arriving at her drivers’ side door with guns drawn, Defendants Benfield and Barkalow grabbed Plaintiff by her arm and hair and threw her from her Toyota Sequoia to the ground,” the lawsuit alleges.
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Once Bottom was face down on the ground, officers tried to twist her arms behind her back. Bottom “shouted with pain” and told the officers to stop hurting her, saying that a previous injury prevented her from putting her arms behind her back, according to the complaint.
“Eventually the force applied by Defendant officers caused Plaintiff’s shoulder to “pop,” tearing her rotator cuff and causing severe injury,” the lawsuit states.
Officers searched Bottom’s car and her purse, but found nothing. All of the arresting officers were white, Bottom said.
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Another Salisbury police officer involved in the stop said “That’s good police work, baby,” according to comments recorded on his body cam. Barkalow, meanwhile, “bragged about ‘grabbing a handful of dreads,’ and said ‘at that point she earned it,’“ the lawsuit states.