Lawsuit says Without Probable Cause White Homewood Cops Searched, Attacked & Unnecessarily Detained Black Woman in Walmart

From [HERE] A black woman who was taken to the floor and handcuffed inside the Walmart in Homewood by police after she refused to let them search her purse has filed a federal civil rights and excessive force lawsuit.

The incident sparked protests.

Attorneys for Brenda Rivers filed the lawsuit late Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Birmingham. The lawsuit names Homewood's police department and officer Corey Lenard as defendants.

Homewood City Attorney Michael Kendrick said the city had not received the lawsuit yet so he could not comment. A spokesman for the police department also said they had not yet received a copy of the lawsuit.

Rivers was inside the Walmart Supercenter on Lakeshore Parkway in Homewood on Dec. 1 when police were in pursuit of a suspect in Walmart who stole the wallet of a customer while in the store, the lawsuit states. Rivers alleges that while she was in Walmart, she was approached by police who asked to search her purse. She refused and was arrested for "failure to comply."

Rivers then alleges that one officer, identified in the lawsuit as Lenard, "slammed" her to the ground "or otherwise made physical contact with her."

After Rivers was approached by the law enforcement officers to search her purse, Rivers indicated to the defendants she had just entered the store, the lawsuit claims. "After Rivers was arrested and slammed to the ground, the shopper who had her wallet stolen identified that Rivers was not the person who stole the wallet. The Defendants continued to keep Rivers in handcuffs on the floor under arrest," the lawsuit states.

"Defendant Lenard's actions have deprived Rivers of her Constitutional and civil rights," the lawsuit states. "Specifically, Defendant Lenard violated the Plaintiff's Fourth Amendment rights against an unreasonable search and seizure as there existed no valid and supportable probable cause or reasonable suspicion that the Plaintiff had committed a crime."

The lawsuit also claims Lenard violated River's Fourth Amendment rights by using excessive force and her Fifth Amendment right of due process.

Rivers suffered physical injuries, pain, mental anguish and emotional distress, the lawsuit states. Rivers was caused to seek medical treatment, and was prevented from going about her normal activities due to her injuries, the lawsuit claims.

Rivers was "unlawfully searched, detained and falsely imprisoned" and caused to incur medical expenses.

The officer, who Homewood police have declined to identify, was found not to have violated any state law or departmental policy.

But after the incident Homewood police announced the officer involved in the incident had been reassigned to the department's training division. The move came after police officials met with Black Lives Matter activists.