An Arizona woman is planning to sue the city of Chandler after a local police officer illegally entered her home and arrested her while she was naked. Police later found the officer had no reason to enter the woman’s house.
It’s unclear exactly when the incident occurred, but it began when Chandler Police Officer Doug Rose and another cop arrived at the home of Esmeralda Rossi. The two wanted to speak with her after receiving a call about her arguing with her estranged husband.
When they arrived, Rossi was in the shower and her daughter answered the door.
“My daughter came to the shower and said there are two officers at the door. So I just grabbed a towel and ran to the door,” she told local ABC 15, which broke the story and obtained video footage of the incident.
At some point during her conversation with the officers, Rossi said she wanted to get her cell phone in order to record the interview. On leaving to retrieve it, she heard footsteps behind her and then one of the officers told her to stop or she would be arrested, Rossi alleges.
The situation escalated when Rossi and her daughter began recording the episode anyway. Officer Rose can be heard asking Rossi if she wants to go to jail. He eventually moves in to arrest her.
“I don’t want to touch you! Don’t touch me,” Rossi can be heard saying in the video.
“You are under arrest. Please turn around and put your hands behind your back,” Rose says as he grabs her. At this point, Rossi and her daughter are yelling.
“I felt helpless. I felt violated. And honestly, I felt molested,” Rossi told ABC 15.
“The way he approached me was very aggressive and very angry. And it made me very uncomfortable.”
In the end, Rossi was not charged with a crime and police allowed her daughter to remove the handcuffs.
At one point, the phone recording the incident drops to the floor. While nothing is visible at that point, the phone continued to catch audio of Rose addressing Rossi.
“When a cop shows up, you’re not the one in charge; I don’t care if it is your house,” he is heard saying.
Chandler police initiated a review of the incident, but Rose retired with pension before it was concluded. It found that Rose did enter Rossi’s home illegally and without probable cause. He also failed to mention in his police report that Rossi had been naked or that he had arrested her. No charges have been filed against Rose.
Meanwhile, Rossi is preparing to file a lawsuit against the city over the encounter. Her attorney, Marc Victor, called the situation “disgusting” and “barbaric.”
“Any one of us would be upset if a police officer barged into our homes without permission,” he said to ABC 15. “She had a right to be upset.”