Federal lawsuit alleges search of body cavities violated rights

The suit states that a body-cavity search was done on both men in the same cell.
& lt;a href=mailto:sinkovich@vindy.com & gt;By PEGGY SINKOVICH & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Constitutional rights were violated when two men arrested on traffic charges were subjected to a body-cavity search by city police, a federal lawsuit states.
LaShawn Ziegler of Oak Knoll Avenue and Brandon Rodgers of Deerfield Avenue Southwest filed the lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Cleveland. A hearing date has not been set.
The city of Warren, Sgt. Robert Massucci and patrol officer Tim Ladner are named as defendants.
Both Mayor Hank Angelo and Law Director Greg Hicks said they have not been served a copy of the complaint, so they are unable to comment. Neither Massucci nor Ladner could be reached.
"This case is particularly odious because the two were body-cavity searched in the same cell," said Atty. Ken Myers of Cleveland, who along with Atty. Gilbert W. R. Rucker of Warren filed the lawsuit. "I find it hard to believe that no one in the hierarchy of the Warren Police Department didn't know this was wrong."
The strip-searching and body-cavity searching of Ziegler and Rodgers is "part of a pattern and practice of strip-searching and body-cavity searching of criminal suspects, including plaintiffs, that has gone on for years in the city of Warren, amounting to a conspiracy to deprive plaintiffs and other citizens of their civil rights," the suit states.
The suit further notes that improperly conducting strip-searches and body-cavity searches and failing to report and document the searches is a violation of state law. There were no reports of the searches, police department officials said.
What officer said
Massucci has said previously that he instructed the men to take off their pants but he did not perform a body-cavity search.
Massucci said officers did the searches because they wanted to make sure that those who go to the jail aren't hiding illegal drugs or weapons. He also said he believed he was allowed to perform the search and was never told that what he was doing was wrong.
In June 2002, Ziegler and Rodgers were driving to a local nightclub around midnight. They exited the vehicle and were walking toward the club when Ladner pulled up and told both men to get back into the car.
The suit states that both men were charged with driving under suspension, even though neither man was driving at the time police observed them.
"The officers told plaintiffs that since the officers were not sure who had been driving, both would be charged," the suit states. The men were taken to the police department and placed in the same holding cell. The holding cell was in full view of a female dispatcher, the suit further states.
The charges against Ziegler and Rodgers were later dismissed in municipal court, records state.
& lt;a href=mailto:sinkovich@vindy.com & gt;sinkovich@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;