Attorneys alleged a Joliet police officer illegally patted down a 12-year-old girl without a reason to do so in a civil rights lawsuit filed against the city and police department that was announced Thursday.
Officers’ body cameras were rolling at the time of the incident that occurred almost two years ago, and the attorneys released the video footage — edited by police — to reporters Thursday.
The incident started out as a traffic stop in February 2024. Joliet police pulled over a car with two sisters inside. The 12-year-old girl was the passenger, and her older sister was driving.
“The reason I’m stopping you is for your lights. You don’t have any of them on,” an officer said in the body camera video.
The video showed officers explaining why they asked the sisters to get out of the car.
“Your plates are suspended because of the registration. So, we’re towing the vehicle,” an officer said in the video.
The lawsuit centers around what happened as the sisters got out of the car, when an officer patted down the 12-year-old girl. Her older sister was not patted down.
The family’s attorneys said it was an illegal search, alleging constitutional violations of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments in the lawsuit.
“There was no 911 call which should have made them suspicious. No bank robbery. No driving down the street at 80 or 90 miles an hour. Nothing. Just a routine traffic stop,” said Victor Henderson, attorney for the Jones family.
In the video, immediately following the pat-down, her older sister asked the officer: “Can I ask why you patted down a minor?”
They called their mother, Nayocka Jones, and when she got to the scene, she also repeatedly asked for an explanation. She requested a sergeant come to the scene.
“I ran to the scene in a panic, trying to make sure that everything was OK. My children were simply going to visit their grandmother when all of this happened,” Jones said during the news conference Thursday.
The complaint alleged Joliet police later acknowledged the search violated department policy and the officer involved was disciplined. A spokesperson for the Joliet Police Department told NBC 5 Chicago it can’t comment on pending litigation.
Jones said her daughter has had to attend therapy as a result of the encounter.
“She’s developed separation anxiety. She doesn’t want me to go anywhere,” Jones said.
Body camera also captured a conversation between the officer and his sergeant following the search.
“You seriously patted down the little girl?” the sergeant asked.
The sergeant later said, “You made a mistake,” and the officer responded, “Agreed.”
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