In what can only be described as the absolute the worst traffic stop in history, a New Mexico man says doctors repeatedly probed his anus and subjected him to multiple humiliating medical procedures all because police believed he may have been hiding narcotics up there.


As if that wasn't horrifying enough, after being probed, x-rayed, probed again, subjected to enemas, made to poop in front of police, sedated, and given a forced colonoscopy, the man must pay for everything that happened because the hospital sent him the bill for the "procedures."

A fair warning before we begin: this story is disgusting on several levels, not the least of which are the civil rights violations this man alleges in his federal lawsuit against the police and the doctors involved.


New Mexico TV station KOB4 has the scoop on David Eckert of Deming, New Mexico, who was stopped by police after they said he didn't come a complete stop at a stop sign while exiting a Wal-Mart.

When Eckert stepped out of his car, officers believed he was clenching his buttocks for some reason, KOB4 said. They took him to a local emergency room and ordered an anal cavity search after securing a warrant for one. Doctors there refused to do it because they believed it to be unethical.

But the doctors at Gila Regional Medical Center apparently had no such ethical qualms. According to medical records and lawsuit documents, Eckert was subjected to the following procedures over the next few hours:

1. Eckert's abdominal area was x-rayed; no narcotics were found. 2. Doctors then performed an exam of Eckert's anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found. 3. Doctors performed a second exam of Eckert's anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found. 4. Doctors penetrated Eckert's anus to insert an enema. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found. 5. Doctors penetrated Eckert's anus to insert an enema a second time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found. 6. Doctors penetrated Eckert's anus to insert an enema a third time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found. 7. Doctors then x-rayed Eckert again; no narcotics were found. 8. Doctors prepared Eckert for surgery, sedated him, and then performed a colonoscopy where a scope with a camera was inserted into Eckert's anus, rectum, colon, and large intestines. No narcotics were found. Throughout this ordeal, Eckert protested and never gave doctors at the Gila Regional Medical Center consent to perform any of these medical procedures.


Again, no narcotics were found. And as the TV station reports, there were several problems with the warrant, including the fact that it was not valid in the county where the searches were performed and that it expired three hours before the procedures began.

Eckert is now suing the City of Deming and three of its officers, three Hidalgo County sheriff's deputies, a deputy District Attorney, the Gila Regional Medical Center and two of its doctors.


With any luck he'll collect some money from them. He'll need it; the Gila Regional Medical Center sent him the bill for all of the procedures and is threatening to take him to collections if he doesn't pay it.

So let's recap: police abuse, insane penalties for drugs, civil rights violations, and expensive medical bills, all for allegedly not stopping all the way at a stop sign? And no actual drugs were found?


Great work on this one to all involved.

Hat tip to WilliamCollier on Twitter!