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The city of San Antonio will vote this week on a proposed settlement that would award a woman $205,000, after she accused a police officer of inappropriately searching her and pulling out her tampon in public.

40-year-old Natalie Simms alleges In a lawsuit filed last year in the Western District of Texas that her encounter with the officer, Mara Wilson, was a "blatant violation" of her constitutional rights that "resulted in significant and lasting harm."

"I don't think any amount of money will completely restore her dignity that was taken from her on that San Antonio public street," her attorney, Dean Malone, told Insider.

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Natalie Simms, a woman in her late 30s living in San Antonio, wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary as she waited for her boyfriend on that day in August 2016. She was sitting on the curb, her car parked across the street, talking on the phone and minding her own business.

That's when police officers arrived. They believed she might be in possession of illegal drugs and asked to search her car. After she agreed, they called a female officer to also search her. Even though she didn't have any contraband, they said she couldn't leave until she was fully searched by detective Mara Wilson, according to court records filed last year in the Western District of Texas and seen by Insider.

"Do you have anything on you?" Wilson asked Simms, per a transcript of dash-cam footage included in the lawsuit.

"No, ma'am, nothing," Simms replied.

Later, Wilson, who allegedly did not have a warrant at the time, asked Simms if she could pull down her shorts.

Out in the public, as cars drove by, Wilson conducted a vaginal cavity search, the lawsuit said. Wilson instructed Simms to "spread your legs," and asked, "do you have anything down here before I reach down here?"

"Natalie began to realize, with shock, what Officer Wilson intended to do," according to the lawsuit. "Officer Wilson intended to reach down into Natalie's pants and made contact with her pubic hair and vagina."

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When Simms told Wilson that she was on her period, the lawsuit alleges that Wilson lied by saying she wasn't going to reach into her pants but just "look." Instead, with five male officers watching, Wilson "pulled open Natalie's pants and underwear."

After noticing Simm's tampon string during her search, she decided to pull. She did so "knowing that Natalie was on her period," and even though "Natalie had not consented to such a search, seizure, and/or use of force," according to the lawsuit.

"Is that a tampon?" Wilson asked.

"It's full of blood, right?" Simms said, in shock. "Why would you do that?"

"I don't know. It looked like it had stuff in there."

A proposed $205,000 settlement

Following the search, Simms sued the city of San Antonio and Wilson, who is now retired, alleging the encounter to be a "blatant violation" of her constitutional rights that "resulted in significant and lasting harm."

"Natalie suffered through a shocking display of what can occur when police power is unchecked. Natalie was humiliated and degraded as a result of the police officer's actions," her attorney Dean Malone told local news station WOAI in March 2018. "We intend to seek full damages available under the law and look forward to presenting Natalie's horrible experience to a jury."

In a surprise twist to Simm's case, however, city lawyers offered $205,000 to Simms, who is now 40. On Thursday, the city council will vote on the proposed settlement, according to San Antonio Express-News. The paper added that Simms and her attorney have agreed to that sum, which will be paid from the city's Self-Assurance Liability Fund, according to the city's agenda of Thursday's meeting.

Malone told Insider that the two parties went to mediation, ultimately negotiating the proposed settlement. He said that if the city council doesn't accept that amount, they are fully prepared to go to trial.

"This wasn't really about money for her at all, it was about the return of her dignity," Malone said. "When she filed suit it was to assert her rights and obviously she believed that she had been violated."

After pulling out Simm's tampon, and ignoring her repeated claims she wasn't hiding contraband, as well as multiple requests to be taken to the police station, Wilson continued with the search. "She decided at one point to run her fingers along Natalie's vaginal lips," according to the lawsuit. At one point, Wilson made a comment that "you're very hairy."

"Officer Wilson had violated Natalie vaginally, and now it appeared that she might violate Natalie anally. She was doing so without a warrant, with no medical personnel present, and on a public street in view of several people as well as those passing by," the lawsuit said.

"But, Miss, this is like in public. Come on now. You already pulled the tampon out," Simms protested, after Wilson asked her to turn around and, once again, spread her legs, according to the lawsuit.

"Yeah, I know, but turn around," Wilson replied.

Simms was eventually allowed to leave the scene, after officers found no contraband on her.

No apology from the city or police department

In the wake of the incident, Wilson, who retired in May 2017, stood by the way she searched Simms. "It was really nasty, but I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything in there," she told another detective, according to court records. She claimed she needed to conduct the search because "you don't know what they have. I mean, they stick all kinds of stuff."

During a deposition in June 2018, she said that, in the past, she had discovered plastic baggies containing drugs like heroin and cocaine hidden in the crotch area or jammed into the vaginal cavity, according to the Express-News.

Internal affairs investigators determined that Wilson's actions didn't violate the department's policies, according to the lawsuit. Following the body cavity search, her performance was described as "Exceeds Expectations."

The San Antonio Police Department referred Insider to the San Antonio City Attorney's Office when asked for comment.

"We evaluate cases and look for potential resolutions without the necessity of proceeding to trial. We were able to resolve this matter with this proposed settlement and believe it to be in the best interest of all involved," City Attorney Andy Segovia told Insider in a statement.

Malone told Insider that there's never been an apology from anyone regarding what happened to Simms. He said they just offered money to try and resolve the case.

Over three years later, he said that, while Simms is doing better than before, she continues to struggle from the experience.

"I think any male or female to go through what we see as a body cavity search is traumatized and I suspect leads to life long issues," he said. "I don't think any amount of money will completely restore her dignity that was taken from her on that San Antonio public street."

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