Dearborn Cop Accused of Groping Woman Bound Over for Trial

DEARBORN, MI — A Dearborn police officer accused of groping a woman’s breasts during a traffic stop last May will stand trial for sexual misconduct, a judge ordered Friday.

Police Cpl. Justin Smith, 36, was arraigned last month on second-degree sexual misconduct charges and common law offenses. He has been suspended without pay.

At Smith’s preliminary hearing in 19th District Court Friday, Judge William Hultgren heard from the 32-year-old woman, whose name the judge asked the media not to use, about the incident that occurred as she was on her way home from work about 10 p.m. May 2 in the area of Telegraph and Cherry Hill.

She said Smith, who she has known for about four years as a regular customer at her family’s deli where she works as a waitress, “reached in and touched my (left) boob.”

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“I just sat there and said, did he just touch by boob?” the woman testified, according to The Detroit News.

A dash cam video played in court showed Smith reaching into the vehicle as he walked away, but the audio had been manually turned off — a not “uncommon” practice when police stop someone they know, Lt. Gary Mann of the Dearborn Police Department testified. He said later the stop should have been recorded.

After the alleged incident, Smith returned to his squad car and drove away. The woman told her boyfriend, also a Dearborn police officer, about the incident about three weeks after the stop, and he reported it to superiors. The woman said he and Smith have “bad blood.”

• See Also: Police Forced Women to ‘Shake Breasts’ in Traffic Stop: Lawsuit

The woman also admitted during cross examination by Smith’s attorney, Greg Rohl, that she and Smith had exchanged text messages, including one that said “you scared me,” along with text shorthand, “LMAO,” but that she had never told him she found his conduct inappropriate.

Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Danielle Hagaman-Clark described Smith’s actions as sexual conduct “during the commission of felony. No other incidents have been filed against Smith, a Dearborn police officer for about seven years, Mann said.

The woman said she is considering a lawsuit against the city. After the judge bound Smith over for trial, Rohl told The Detroit News that “anyone can make a career-killing claim in hopes of getting some money out of it.”

In an earlier statement Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad said an internal investigation into Smith’s alleged conduct is under way and that his department is “committed to remaining completely transparent in matters of this nature, and we will continue to do that during the course of this investigation.”

Photo via Dearborn Police Department