The Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio said deputies had probable cause to search a Black man’s car after pulling him over last month for an alleged turn-signal violation and an issue with a license-plate light.
But their report does not explain what prompted deputies to summon a K-9 unit, pat down Roy Lee Campbell Jr., or search his car for about an hour after he said he did not consent.
The 48-year-old grandfather filed a complaint with the sheriff’s office and is seeking an attorney to pursue a possible lawsuit.
“He rubbed his hands all over my genitals, which was very uncomfortable,” Campbell said in an exclusive telephone interview with Atlanta Black Star.
The deputy also claimed the white light above Campbell’s license plate was illuminating away from the plate. Campbell said at least eight deputies arrived, including one with a K-9, before deputies searched his vehicle. He said deputies told him the dog alerted to the presence of drugs.
“I’m standing there shaking, fearing for my life because I got eight officers standing around me. They all had weapons.”
Deputies found nothing illegal, Campbell said, and allowed him to leave without issuing a citation. He said they damaged both doors on his Chevy Blazer, leaving them unable to close properly.
“I want my doors fixed,” Campbell said. He added that he requested body-camera footage from the traffic stop but was told it could take up to two months to receive it.
The Fairfield County sheriff’s deputy pulled Campbell over shortly after midnight on Aug. 6, just blocks from his home, after he clocked out from his shipping-logistics job.
Campbell drives a 2000 Chevy Blazer that he describes as a “beater work car.” He said deputies mocked him after he explained that he climbs through the passenger side because the driver-side door was already damaged.
He said he first handed the deputy a state-issued identification card. The deputy ran his information, found no warrants, and then asked for his driver’s license, which Campbell said he provided.
Deputies then ordered him out of the car, Campbell said. He exited through the passenger-side door. He said one deputy forced open the damaged driver-side door anyway.
“And then when he said, ‘I thought you said this driver door won’t open,’ I said, ‘It doesn’t open,’” Campbell said, explaining that the door was “hanging by a thread,” which was why he did not use it.
“‘Well, it’s open now,’” the deputy told him.
“And I said, ‘On purpose. It was not supposed to be open.’”
“And when he opened it, it just tore it to pieces.”
“And then to add more pain to the misery of it, the other officer jammed the door up that I was actually using.”
Campbell emailed a complaint to the department and asked the Ohio attorney general’s office to investigate.
“I strongly believe my civil rights were violated, in my opinion. Also, my doors on my 2000 Chevy Blazer were broken more and made unworkable,” he wrote. “I haven’t driven it since that night.”
Deputies summarized the traffic stop in their incident report, obtained by Atlanta Black Star:
“Pulled vehicle over for white light illuminating to the rear and turning without signal. PC search of the vehicle was conducted, and nothing was located. Driver was given warning for both the equipment and the moving violation. BWC active.”
The report does not state what facts gave deputies probable cause to search Campbell’s car. Campbell said deputies told him their K-9 alerted to drugs.
A K-9 sniff conducted during a lawful traffic stop does not itself require reasonable suspicion, but officers cannot prolong a completed traffic stop to conduct one without reasonable suspicion of separate criminal activity. The U.S. Supreme Court made that clear in its 2015 ruling in Rodriguez v. United States.
The 10-page incident report, which redacts portions of the narrative, lists Marisah Thomas, John Grubb, Jake Benline, Brant Pastol and Stephen Garcia among the deputies involved in the traffic stop.
Campbell said the sheriff’s office never called him about his complaint. But on Labor Day, at about 8:30 p.m., he said a deputy unexpectedly knocked on his door to discuss the incident. Campbell said he declined to speak with the deputy because he is considering legal action.
“I’m still traumatized from it,” he said. “The whole idea of me not making it to my house that night.”
“I don’t want nobody else going through what I went through.”
Atlanta Black Star reached out to the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office for comment but have not heard back.
