State transit police denied the claims of three male strippers on Wednesday who said detectives forced them to disrobe for full-body nude photographs and stole almost $10,000 in cash, calling the entire incident a “publicity stunt.”
An attorney for the exotic dancers ? Edward “Total Package” Cloyd, David “Pain” Lawrence and Derrick “Sexecutioner” Williams ? said Tuesday that he intends to file a $5 million lawsuit claiming the Maryland Transportation Authority police violated the men?s civil rights. In his claim of intent, Jimmy Bell said a detective made his clients strip for full-length photos instead of taking standard headshots.
But police chief Gary McLhinney said his detectives only asked the men to remove their shirts so they could photograph their tattoos, which he said is routine.
“If you make an accusation like this, you better be prepared to prove it,” McLhinney said. “We have proof their pants were on.”
Police forwarded several pictures of the men to The Examiner, which show numerous tattoos on isolated upper-body parts and the waistbands? of the men?s pants. Some photos show the men?s faces along with their upper bodies. In one photo, the top button on a pair of jeans is undone.
The dancers and a woman who was driving, Niko Natushia Singleton, were stopped for speeding near the Harbor Tunnel March 4 as they returned from an engagement in Philadelphia. Bell said the men were searched and arrested and nearly $10,000 in tips from “admiring audience members” was confiscated.
Detectives charged all three dancers with possession of the same five grams of marijuana, according to Bell, who said the most any of the men were given in receipts was for 15 cents. He sent The Examiner a photocopy of Cloyd?s receipt for free.
“What type of stripper do you know who goes from one shore to another without money?” Bell said. “You don?t seize a person?s money for possession of a misdemeanor amount of marijuana.”
Bell said his clients claim detectives used a digital and Polaroid camera and questioned whether police released all photos to the media.
McLhinney said that small amounts of marijuana were found along the roadside and in the dancers? Suburban, and that Singleton admitted the men had been smoking inside the vehicle. All the men have lengthy criminal records, he said, and the photos will be sent to Maryland State and Baltimore City police intelligence units for analysis.
The confiscated money has been forwarded to the state?s attorney general, who will ultimately decide if it should be returned to the men, McLhinney said. According to court records, the dancers were not prosecuted on the drug possession charges.
