David Ashenfelter
McClatchy-Tribune
February 10, 2011
DETROIT — A 46-year-old Canadian woman sued two unidentified female U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in Detroit federal court Wednesday, saying one of them strip-searched and groped her without justification as the other one watched at the Ambassador Bridge last March.
Loretta Van Beek, of Stratford, an interior decorator who said she travels to the United States about five times a year to vacation at her property in Georgia, said agents sent her to secondary inspection last March 2 because she failed to disclose that she had raspberries in her vehicle.
She said agents questioned her about her occupation, property and family status during a two-hour session, then ordered her to a windowless concrete cell she ordered her to strip
Van Beek said one agent aggressively groped her breasts and genital area for an extended period of time while the other one watched. Then, she was photographed and fingerprinted and sent back to Canada, she said.
“It was a very traumatic experience for her,” said her lawyer, S. Thomas Wienner, of Rochester, Mich.
He said his client has no criminal record and had never encountered such treatment while crossing the border. The suit accused the agents of violating her Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure.
A spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection said he couldn’t comment on pending litigation.