An Indiana man has launched a lawsuit against police, saying they fudged his alcohol level numbers on their traffic stop report, forced him to provide a blood test at a nearby hospital — and then demanded he lay still while a nurse inserted a catheter and withdrew urine.
William B. Clark named Schererville Police Officers Matthew Djukic and Damian Murks in his suit, The Times of Northwest Indiana reported.
The incident started in May 2013, when police pulled Mr. Clark over for what they reported was erratic driving, Raw Story said. One officer said he smelled a “moderate odor of alcohol” in the car, the media outlet said.
But Mr. Clark described a different scenario.
He alleged the two officers changed their records to show his blood alcohol content was .11, well above the legal .08 limit, and that they then transported him to a nearby hospital to provide a blood test. The blood test there reportedly showed his alcohol level was below the legal limit — but Mr. Djukic then forced Mr. Clark to allow a nurse to insert a catheter and draw his urine, the suit charges, Raw Story reported.
The procedure was “painful, degrading and humiliating,” Mr. Clark said, in the suit, which also accuses the hospital of breaching patient privacy laws.
Mr. Clark’s lawyer, Patrick McEuen, said to The Times of Northwest Indiana that while his client had been found guilty of driving while intoxicated in a separate case, that issue has no bearing on the current case — and on top of that, the guilty finding in that hearing was most likely being appealed.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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