WARREN Man files federal lawsuit over police strip-search

Police performed a strip-search and a body-cavity search, the lawsuit states.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A 26-year-old Liberty Township man who says city police violated his constitutional rights when they strip-searched him has filed a federal lawsuit seeking more than $200,000 in damages.
Dominic Gambone of Gypsy Lane filed the suit Friday afternoon in Youngstown Federal Court.
His attorneys, Alan J. Matavich and Sarah Kovoor, said a hearing date has not been set.
When reached at his home, Gambone declined to comment.
The lawsuit names the city and patrol officers Tim Parana and Robert Trimble as defendants. The officers could not be reached to comment.
Police Chief John Mandopoulos, Greg Hicks, city law director, and Doug Franklin, safety-service director, all declined to comment. Mayor Michael O'Brien could not be reached.
According to the lawsuit, Gambone was stopped by Parana and Trimble on a charge of driving under suspension and driving slowly. He was handcuffed and placed in the cruiser, the suit states.
Gambone was then taken to the police station and officers conducted a strip-search and body-cavity search, the suit states.
Gambone contends the strip-searching and body-cavity searching are violations of his constitutional right to be free from unreasonable search and seizures.
Department investigation
In July, The Vindicator reported that Parana admitted routinely conducting body-cavity searches and strip-searches on male suspects in even minor crimes, according to an internal police investigation.
That investigation was started because of Gambone's complaint, police officials said.
After an internal police investigation, Police Chief John Mandopoulos declined to discipline the two officers, but then-Mayor Hank Angelo and then-Safety-Service Director Fred Harris ordered the investigation reopened after The Vindicator article on strip-searches was published.
Hicks said the investigations of the officers are on hold while the lawsuits are pending.
Trumbull County prosecutors say that strip-searches should be done only in certain cases and that a list of procedures, including, in many cases, getting a search warrant, must be followed.
Misdemeanor
Courts have determined that conducting an illegal strip-search is a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Officers receive training on strip-searching suspects when they attend the basic police academy, Marhulik said in the report.
After Gambone filed a complaint in March 2003, Mandopoulos implemented a new departmental policy, with strict guidelines on strip-searches. The new guidelines, written by city police and law department officials, require doctors to be present during the most invasive searches.
sinkovich@vindy.com