PHILADELPHIA – A Chester County man says in new litigation that he was illegally subjected to detainment, search, arrest and a blood test for DUI without probable cause by a Pennsylvania state trooper.
Byron Quinn Winne of Oxford filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on May 27, versus the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State Trooper Christopher F. Tustin and Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Robert Evanchick.
Winne says he was traveling southbound on Interstate 95 in Delaware County on May 28, 2018 when Tustin pulled him over for a traffic stop and asked for his driver’s license, vehicle registration and vehicle insurance card, which he provided.
“Trooper Tustin then ordered plaintiff out of the vehicle and patted him down, which yielded negative results. Trooper Tustin then called for a backup K-9 unit which proceeded to search plaintiff’s vehicle. The vehicle search yielded negative results for narcotics, firearms or some other contraband,” the suit states.
“Following the search, without conducting a field sobriety test, Trooper Tustin placed plaintiff in handcuffs and had him transported to Riddle Hospital for a DUI blood test. Plaintiff was detained at the hospital for several hours, then released after the blood test. Despite being detained, searched and arrested, then subjected to a DUI blood test, plaintiff was never formally charged with a crime. There was clearly no legal cause to justify the detention and arrest of plaintiff.”
The lawsuit alleges Tustin “failed to take reasonable steps to investigate and pursue information that would have indisputably negated any such legal cause” and pointed to the state and Evanchick as policymaker and implementer of practices, procedures and customs used to train Pennsylvania state troopers.
For counts of civil rights violations for unreasonable detention, false arrest, false imprisonment, policies and procedures in violation of the 4th and 14th Amendments and intentional infliction of emotional distress, the plaintiff is seeking compensatory damages from all defendants, punitive damages from defendant Tustin, attorney’s fees and costs, other and further relief as may appear just and appropriate, plus a trial by jury.
The plaintiff is represented by Earl D. Raynor Jr. in Philadelphia.
The defendants have not yet obtained legal counsel.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:20-cv-02493
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com