SUIT CLAIMS ADAMSVILLE POLICE MADE FALSE ARREST

A woman who says Adamsville police planted drugs on her during a minor
traffic stop and jailed her without making a formal charge has sued
the city, the police chief and two officers who stopped her.

Ebony Frazier of Graysville is seeking punitive damages on seven civil
charges, including false arrest and unlawful search and seizure,
according to a lawsuit filed this month in U.S. District Court in Birmingham.

According to claims detailed in the lawsuit, Ms. Frazier and four
other passengers were traveling on Minor Parkway last June in a car
driven by Ms. Frazier's brother, Anthony Kelly, when he was stopped by
police for not wearing a seat belt. Kelly was searched and he and Ms.
Frazier were asked to wait in the squad car while the officer
questioned other passengers in the car, the lawsuit says.

When the officer returned to the squad car, he produced a vial of
liquid from beneath the seat, the lawsuit claims, and told Kelly he
was being arrested for unlawful possession of a controlled substance.
Ms. Frazier and her brother were fingerprinted and jailed more than a
day. Ms. Frazier was released when the county did not sign a felony
warrant, the lawsuit says. Her brother is appealing convictions on
three traffic violations stemming from that incident.

Neither was charged with drug possession.

Adamsville police spokesman Detective Cornelius Washington said he
learned of the lawsuit this week and is investigating.

"We will respond when we've checked the facts in the arrest reports
and talked to the officers," he said.

Ms. Frazier's lawyer, Scott Harwell, said he has witnesses who will
establish a pattern of civil rights violations and evi dence planting
arising from traffic stops in Adamsville. This type of lawsuit
requires proof that city officials are consciously neglecting rights
of citizens, according to Harwell.

"This is not just one mistake by a couple of officers," he
said.

Some residents have claimed Minor Parkway is heavily patrolled by
Adamsville police although it lies outside the city limits.

In January a sign was anonymously erected on the parkway that said
"Have you been harassed by Adamsville police?" The sign included the
state attorney general's phone number. The AG's office did not sponsor
the sign and has not logged any complaints against Adamsville police
so far, a spokesman said.

Adamsville Police Chief David Wilson has said his officers do not
congregate on Minor Parkway. He said they write speeding tickets there
only as a safety precaution.