FLORISSANT, Mo. — A third woman has come forward, claiming a former Florissant police officer harassed her by pulling her four times in the same month and taking her cell phone back to his patrol car.
The new allegation comes as two women have already filed lawsuits, alleging the same officer copied intimate photos from their phones during traffic stops.
The first woman, identified by the pseudonym Jane Doe, and her husband, John Doe, filed the first lawsuit in September against the unnamed police officer accused of making copies of "intimate photographs" from her phone during a traffic stop in February.
The second lawsuit was made public days later, claiming the same officer took nude photos from a teenager, identified under the pseudonym Mary Doe, during a traffic stop in May, just a day before her high school graduation. The photos were taken when she was between 15 and 18 years old.
The young Florissant woman said this happened in April. Each time she was pulled over was at night while driving for work.
The third woman has hired Rick Voytas, the attorney representing the other two women, to pursue legal action — though a lawsuit has not been filed yet.
Voytas asked her to be called Anna Doe to protect her identity.
Anna said she wants to know what the officer was doing when he took her phone back to his car.
"He asked me for my insurance like they normally do when you get pulled over, and I just showed him my phone through the window, and he just took it out of my hand and went back to his car, and he was gone for a little bit," the woman said.
Anna said she didn't think much of it, but not even a week later, she was pulled over again.
"He pulled me over a second time, and the same thing happened. He took my phone and everything and left. And I still didn't think anything of it, but then it happened a third and a fourth time."
Anna said she was stopped by the officer four times in just one month on Washington Street in Florissant. She said the officer asked for her phone and took it back to the cruiser each time. One of the times, she was given a $10 ticket for not wearing a seatbelt.
"He said, 'I have to give you something at this point, like I pulled you over a few times. It's going to look weird if I don't.' I thought it was nice that he didn't give me a ticket, and then later on, I was like, oh, it makes sense; he was being a creeper."
Anna said one of her friends, a Florissant police officer, told her what was happening.
"She told me, 'Hey, he's being investigated by the FBI for taking women's cell phones and going through them and trying to find nude photos or whatever he wanted and sending them to himself.'"
Anna doesn't know if he copied anything intimate from her phone, but she believes he did. She said she was worried because of the two other women who said he copied and may have even shared intimate images from their devices.
"I definitely hope he didn't get them. I'm assuming at this point, that he most likely did, considering he probably went through my phone four different times. To have a police officer just out here taking advantage of women, it's sick. You should be able to trust law enforcement. He knew he was violating department policy, and he didn't care," said Anna.
The officer's name has not been released because he has not yet been charged with a crime. The FBI St. Louis Division is investigating the officer. Meanwhile, Anna said she's been in contact with the FBI about the incidents.
"Everyone should know who he is. They should know what he's done, and he should be held accountable for it," she said.
This week, the city of Florissant filed to have the two lawsuits dismissed. Attorney Robert Plunkert with Pitzer Snodgrass, who represents the city, said he has no comment on the pending litigation.
The Missouri Department of Public Safety confirmed the officer is still licensed in Missouri. However, it said he is not working for any law enforcement agency in the state at this time.
"I think he should already be in jail. It's unbelievable to me that he was able to walk off scot-free right after the incident when Florissant fired him. He was able to go on about his life while everyone else is dealing with the fallout from it. It's been months, and he's still out there," said Anna.
Voytas said the criminal investigation is ongoing. He is hopeful criminal charges will be filed soon.