Mitchell Schmidt

Iowa City Press-Citizen

A Minnesota couple has filed a petition against the Iowa City Police Department and three of the department's officers requesting the return of more than $40,000 in cash that police seized from the couple's vehicle during a traffic stop last month.

Tiffani D.S. Barber and Kearnice C. Overton, of St. Paul, Minn., filed an application April 11 in Johnson County District Court claiming that officers from the Iowa City Police Department wrongfully seized $48,000 cash from Overton's vehicle March 16.

Overton was driving from Davenport to St. Paul with his four children when Officer Michael Clark stopped his vehicle on Interstate 80 for traveling in a group of vehicles that was speeding, according to the court document.

During the traffic stop, officers Travis Neeld and Ian Alke responded along with the K-9 unit. One of the officers said the dog gave a silent indicator on the vehicle, allowing police to search, according to the document.

Police found a gym bag containing $44,000 in the vehicle's trunk and another $4,000 in Overton's jacket, which was seized by police, according to the document.

Iowa City Police Sgt. Vicki Lalla said Thursday she couldn't discuss in depth Overton's claims but said multiple factors can go into an officer's decision to perform a seizure, such as the amount of cash present.

"It's very unusual for people to be out and about with that much cash on their person or in their car," she said.

However, Overton claims in court documents that the money was given to him by Barber earlier that month to be used to buy property from Overton's cousin in Rock Island, Ill.

"This money was wrongfully seized. I was not arrested, nor were any charges lodged against me in connection with this money," Overton states in the document. "This money was in no way connected to any criminal activity."

According to court documents, Overton traveled to Rock Island with the money in early March to buy two properties from his cousin, but the sale didn't go through and he was driving back to St. Paul when he was stopped by police March 16.

Overton was cited during the traffic stop for driving without a valid driver's license but claims in the court document that he did have a valid license.

A traffic citation on Overton's record, filed March 21 for driving without a valid license, was still pending as of Thursday afternoon.

A hearing on the case is set for May 6 at the Johnson County Courthouse.

Reach Mitchell Schmidt at maschmidt@press-citizen.com or at 887-5402.