Couple sue state trooper who forced them to disrobe
June 13, 2006

CHICAGO (AP) -- A couple have filed a federal lawsuit against the Illinois State Police trooper convicted of forcing them to strip during a traffic stop last June.

Jeremy Dozier, 32, was sentenced in March to six months in jail and an additional two years probation for the incident. On Jan. 30, a jury found Dozier guilty on four counts of bribery and four counts of misconduct, all felonies.

In their suit filed Monday, Dimitry Baum, 23, and his fiancee, Maria "Masha" Boyko, 19, allege that Dozier drove up behind them on a Cook County highway, gave them Breathalyzer tests and then ordered them to disrobe and urinate in a roadside ditch.

The suit seeks unspecified damages.

Dozier, a 10-year state police veteran, has said that the couple stripped on their own.

He has been suspended without pay from the state police and will face dismissal proceedings, said Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Lincoln Hampton.

Dozier also faces felony charges in Lake County related to a similar incident April 29 in Gurnee, when he allegedly confronted a couple in a parked car and told them to take off their clothes and run around a construction site.