A grieving father from Illinois is reportedly suing the police after they desecrated a sealed urn that contained the ashes of his deceased daughter.
The shocking incident took place in the year 2020 in April, and that’s when a grieving father by the name of Dartavius Barnes from Springfield Illinois says the cops crossed the line during a traffic stop. According to Barnes, the officers stopped him for speeding and then also passing a stop sign on the road, right before they got a hold of him.
In the police report, the details of the incident were boldly mentioned. And that’s where Barnes spoke about how he was forced to exit his vehicle on the cops’ demand. Obeying to their orders, he managed to do just that. But that was just the start of his misery.
The respective authorities then placed handcuffs over him and then forced him into the backseat of their patrol vehicle.
Meanwhile, the bodycam footage from the incident revealed how one of the cops requested permission so that they could search his vehicle, right before one officer reaches forward towards a sealed urn, located inside the car.
CNN reported how the cop mentioned that the brass-coated object, which appeared to be shaped similar to a rifle round, seemed like something else. It was quite similar to another object that he had previously seen, perhaps used for carrying narcotics.
On that note, one of the officers went about taking a glimpse at what was inside. And that’s when you can hear the officer on the bodycam stating, “I checked for cocaine, but it looks like it is probably molly.’
But the authorities explained to Barnes how they had found some sort of substance in his vehicle that came out positive in the drugs test. And when they showed the urn to Barnes, he just couldn’t control his emotions. “No, no, no, bro! That’s my young daughter,” the grieving father tried to explain.
He went on to add how the ‘rifle round-shaped substance’ was actually an urn necklace that was commonly used during the process of cremation.
After the incident was over, Barnes went about filing a lawsuit against the six officers that he believes violated his rights present in the 4th Amendment. This entails searching for an unreasonable purpose and stopping a vehicle without any form of reasonable suspicion or with the purpose of accusing the father of committing a crime.