BAY CITY, MI -- A Bay City man who represented himself at trial on a marijuana charge and was subsequently acquitted, is seeking $2.5 million in damages from Bay City and its Department of Public Safety.

Patrick J. Groulx, 38, on June 16, filed a lawsuit in the Bay City Clerk's Office alleging his Fourth Amendment rights were violated and his character defamed after he was pulled over by police in July 2013 and subsequently charged with possession of marijuana, second offense. The charge is punishable by up to two years incarceration and a $4,000 fine.

Groulx went to trial before Bay County Chief Circuit Judge Kenneth W. Schmidt on May 14, 2015. The jury found him not guilty.

The lawsuit states that Bay City officers Brad Lewis, Rod Schanck and Kristin Thomas, as well as Cpl. Brian Schroer and Sgt. Nathan Webster abused their power and went outside the law in seizing Groulx's property, which included his Chevrolet Malibu, 256 grams of unusable cannabis, 7 grams of hashish and 10 pounds of grapefruit.

The suit also alleges Detective Todd Umphrey directed Schroer to tamper with evidence that was used at Groulx's trial.

Although the officers are named in the suit, they are not being sued as individuals.

"We have it turned over to our insurance company, the Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority," said Bay City Clerk Dana Muscott, adding a law firm has been assigned to the matter. "I'm sure what we'll do is ask for dismissal. I don't expect this one to go very far."

Groulx was charged after being pulled over on July 26, 2013, in downtown Bay City. During the stop, officers found several glass Mason jars containing what appeared to the officers to be dried marijuana material, police wrote in their reports. The total amount of material was more than 2.5 ounces, according to police reports.

Groulx, who showed police what appeared to be a valid medical marijuana card, told police that while the total plant material may be about 6 ounces, the "usable marijuana" was only 2 ounces, according to police reports.

Police wrote in their reports they suspected Groulx of distributing marijuana and seized his marijuana.

Public Safety Director Michael J. Cecchini said he could not comment on pending litigation. He also said the individual officers Groulx mentions in his suit are not permitted to comment, per department policy. Schanck and Schroer declined to comment when reached by The Times. Attempts by The Times to reach the other four officers were unsuccessful, but Dan Kuhn, business agent for the Police Officers Association of Michigan, which represents to city officers union, said those officers would not be commenting on the lawsuit.

No attorney is listed on Groulx's lawsuit. The Times could not reach him for comment. The lawsuit lists only a Saginaw P.O. Box as an address and does not include a phone number.