Man sues police after drink-drive stop

A man in the US is suing the police after he was arrested for drink-driving, despite passing a breathalyser test.

Jessie Thornton

Jessie Thornton, 64, was stopped by police in Surprise, Arizona after he crossed a white line while driving and was then accused of driving under the influence (DUI) because he had bloodshot eyes.

Thornton told ABC 15 News: “I take my glasses off and he [the officer] says, ‘You’ve got bloodshot eyes.’ I said, ‘I’ve been swimming at LA Fitness,’ and he says, ‘I think you’re DUI.’”

“He goes, ‘Well we’re going to do a sobriety test.’ I said, ‘OK, but I got bad knees and a bad hip with surgery in two days.’”

Thornton added that he was made to carry out the sobriety test before being handcuffed and driven to the police station for a breathalyser test.

He added: “I couldn’t even sit on the ground like that and they knew it and I was like laying on the ground, then they put me in the back of an SUV, and when I asked the officer to move her seat up ’cause my hip hurt she told me to stop whining.”

Once at the police station his breathalyser test showed a 0.000 reading, but then a drug recognition expert was called to test Thornton for possible drug use.

After those tests Thornton was finally declared sober and said that the drug expert was surprised by his arrest. Thornton told ABC 15: “After he did all the tests, he says, ‘I would never have arrested you, you show no signs of impairment’.”

Thornton is now suing the Surprise Police Department because he believes his arrest was racially motivated. He added: “I’ve been stopped 10 times in Surprise and given four tickets, it’s amazing. It was driving while black. I just don’t want any of this to happen to somebody else.”