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VOL. 40 | NO. 31 | Friday, July 29, 2016
Mother of handcuffed student files lawsuit against officer
MURFREESBORO (AP) - The mother of a Murfreesboro elementary school student has filed a lawsuit against an officer who handcuffed her daughter.
Local news outlets report that Elexecia Martin filed the lawsuit Friday, accusing Murfreesboro Police Department officer Chrystal Templeton of falsely arresting and maliciously prosecuting her daughter. Martin is seeking unspecified damages and a jury trial.
The lawsuit said that Templeton singed a petition in April to detain several Hobgood Elementary School students on charges of criminal responsibility following an off-campus fight caught on video.
Several children were in the area during the fight in March, but not all were visible in the video. Martin said her daughter was not visible, but could be heard off-camera trying to prevent the fight.
Following an investigation, Templeton took the children involved into custody.
The lawsuit states that a juvenile court judge later dism issed the charges against the students.
Martin argued that based on her investigation, Templeton should have known that there was no probable cause to arrest the girl.
Templeton declined requests to comment. Murfreesboro Police Department spokesman Kyle Evans said neither the officer nor the police department had received service of a lawsuit as of Friday.
An internal police investigation into the incident is ongoing.