Librarian sues police for pulling her out of car by her hair during traffic stop
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ATLANTA (WGCL) — A 68-year-old woman says she did not know police in Salisbury, North Carolina were chasing her for speeding until they approached the side of her vehicle and laid out spike strips.
When Stephanie Bottom was pulled over, several officers rushed to her car with guns drawn. One officer pulled Bottom by her hair and threw her to the ground on the side of I-85. Bottom told the officers she was headed from her home in Atlanta to her aunt’s funeral in North Carolina.
The incident is captured on multiple body cameras.
“Why are you doing this to me? I wasn’t running. I was just driving,” Bottom cried out on the body camera footage. “We’ve been chasing you for ten miles. Well, you’re going to jail now,” the officer.A 68-year-old woman says she did not know police in Salisbury, North Carolina were chasing her for speeding until they approached the side of her vehicle and laid out spike strips.
When Stephanie Bottom was pulled over, several officers rushed to her car with guns drawn. One officer pulled Bottom by her hair and threw her to the ground on the side of I-85. Bottom told the officers she was headed from her home in Atlanta to her aunt’s funeral in North Carolina.
The incident is captured on multiple body cameras.
“Why are you doing this to me? I wasn’t running. I was just driving,” Bottom cried out on the body camera footage. “We’ve been chasing you for ten miles. Well, you’re going to jail now,” the officer.
“I didn’t know they were going after me,” Bottom told the Salisbury Police Officer. She said she was listening to loud music and driving with the flow of traffic. She drove up to 80 miles per hour in the 70 mile per hour zone.
This week, Bottom filed a lawsuit against Salisbury City Police and the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office for unlawful use of forth and damages for injuries she sustained in the detainment.
“They did not need to have guns drawn to my head,” Bottom told CBS46’s Hayley Mason Friday morning. “They did not need to scream and holler like they did, and they did not have to jerk and throw me on the ground,” she added.
Bottom and her attorney say the officers not only injured her, but bragged about the incident and congratulated one another, as heard on the bodycam footage.
The lawsuit states Officer Adam Bouk bragged about the chase and stop stating “that’s good police work baby.” Officer Devin Barkalow then bragged about grabbing a “handful of dreads,” and said “at that point she earned it,” the lawsuit says, quoting the bodycam audio.
“That was very disturbing to me. Because what were you insinuating?” Bottom questioned.
Bottom says her rotator cuff was torn and her shoulder was dislocated when officers pinned her to the ground and handcuffed her. She says she had to undergo surgery for her injuries and now has limited mobility.
“I’ve never seen an officer pull someone out of their vehicle by their hair in the way that happened in this case which is why decided to get involved,” said Ian Mance, Bottom’s attorney.
“This should never happen again and these officers need to be accountable for what they did,” Bottom said.
CBS46 reached out to the Salisbury Police Department for comment. They did not provide a statement as of Friday night.
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