Aiken police deny conducting cavity search in broad daylight

After two South Carolina residents sued the Aiken Department of Public Safety for what they say was an illegal cavity search in broad daylight, Aiken police released a statement denying that officers conducted a cavity search.

The incident happened Oct. 2, 2014, according to an Associated Press report. Elijah Pontoon and Lakeya Hicks filed a lawsuit last September against the city of Aiken and the department of public safety.

According to the lawsuit, Pontoon and Hicks say they were illegally stopped by officers for a paper car tag and searched without consent. In addition to the cavity search, the complaint says a female officer exposed Hicks' breasts on the side of the road, with a search performed in the presence of three male officers.

Police released a statement Tuesday denying that anything illegal happened.

“The traffic stop was a legal stop conducted as part of an ongoing narcotics investigation based on information received from a documented, reliable informant,” the statement reads.

The statement also denies that officers conducted a cavity search or exposed anyone’s “private body parts” to public view.

During the incident, when Pontoon objected to what he described as harassment, the lawsuit said the officer told him, “You gonna pay for this one boy.”

Police denied this as well.

“Based on our review the comment attributed to our officer, which was quoted in the complaint as, ‘You gonna pay for this one boy,’ was not made by our officer, but instead was made by the vehicle occupant,” the statement reads.

This story was originally published April 5, 2016 at 8:28 AM with the headline "Aiken police deny conducting cavity search in broad daylight."