Cop Arrests & Strip-Searches Woman Who Refused to Leave Side of Stabbed Husband: Lawsuit

A sheriff’s sergeant and Imperial County are named as defendants in a lawsuit filed by the wife of a well-known El Centro bar owner, who claims she was falsely arrested and subjected to an improper strip search.

Plaintiff Ana Hicks also alleges that she was assaulted and battered by the offensive touching that occurred during booking at the Imperial County Jail for a misdemeanor charge of public drunkenness following the stabbing attack of her husband Lance Hicks on Dec. 26, 2010.

Hicks went to aid her injured husband who was stabbed numerous times behind the Hard Luck Tavern on Main Street, according to the lawsuit that was filed in late January. Infliction of emotional distress and sexual battery are also listed among the claims in the suit.

After refusing to be separated from her husband, Hicks was “unlawfully arrested” by an El Centro police officer identified as only J. Tang in the civil complaint. Ana Hicks was arrested on the misdemeanor count even though she never touched a drop of alcohol that night, the complaint read.

The suit alleges Hicks was forcibly stripped of “all of her clothing” at the jail and was subjected to physical touching over her body despite the absence of a reasonable suspicion that Hicks was concealing any weapons or contraband, the complaint read.