Settlement for 13 searched at San Antonio bar

S.A. Express News 12/18/08
Detained bar patrons will split $450,000

In exchange for a total payment of $450,000, 13 club patrons who said they were strip-searched and for more than an hour prevented from leaving a notorious South Side bar, agreed to drop their claims against four San Antonio police officers and the city.

The federal lawsuit, filed after the April 2007 incident at the Wild Turkey Saloon, led the Police Department to refine its search and seizure policies and clarify when and where officers can make certain searches and detain people. The officers involved were also suspended, though they are appealing.

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Key to the lawsuit was a claim that the department's policy of conducting bar checks is "unconstitutional," as patrons were detained and prevented from leaving until the check was complete. The 11 female plaintiffs also contended they were strip-searched in the bar's restroom, including the removal of their bras and having them turn around with their underwear down as two female officers visually inspected their buttocks.

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On this particular night, the female plaintiffs said they eventually needed to use the bar's restroom, or were instructed to go, where they endured a strip-search for which they argued there was no probable cause. No drugs or weapons were found on any of the plaintiffs, none of whom was arrested.