A New Jersey woman has filed a $25 million lawsuit alleging that a police officer forced her to have sex with him after he reportedly caught her shoplifting.
According to the South Jersey Times, Shakera Brown, 22, claims that Bridgeton, N.J., Police Officer Braheme Days caught her shoplifting at a Rite Aid pharmacy in January 2014. Days allegedly offered her an ultimatum: Brown could be arrested and charged for her alleged crime or they could "handle this in an adult manner," according to the lawsuit viewed by the newspaper.
Brown claims that for the next 11 months, the officer harassed her, demanding sex acts, including having sex with him inside his patrol car, all the while threatening her with jail if she did not agree.
According to the lawsuit viewed by the Times, Brown reluctantly gave the officer her number, and the next day he reportedly called, demanding that Brown walk to his patrol car. She claims that he demanded a sex act she initially refused, but with which she complied after being threatened with jail time. A few days later, the officer reportedly gave Brown a prepaid cellphone that she claims he used to call and harass her.
The South Jersey Times reports that Days and his partner, Police Officer Roger Worley, are currently under investigation for the Dec. 30 fatal shooting of a man, Jerame Reid, during a traffic stop. Police reports indicate that Reid reportedly had a gun in the car but was unarmed and standing outside the vehicle when he was shot and killed.
Days and Worley reportedly fired nine times, the newspaper reports.
Since 2012, Days has had some nine complaints lodged against him, but, the newspaper reports, all have been dismissed because of "lack of probable cause."
Court records viewed by the newspaper show that Brown has a history of shoplifting.
The Bridgeton Police Department, the city of Bridgeton and Days did not comment on the lawsuit when reached by the newspaper.
Read more at the South Jersey Times.