Massapequa mother sues Nassau, state police for $30 million over wrongful arrest, racial profiling claim

The woman was previously charged with DWI in August 2020 and a bench warrant was issued for her at the time, but that was later vacated by a judge in September 2021 - three months before she was pulled over and taken in.

News 12 Staff

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Nov 15, 2022, 10:25 PM

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Updated 767 days ago

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A Massapequa mother filed a $30 million lawsuit against Nassau County police and New York State Police, saying she was falsely arrested, strip searched and racially profiled in Bellmore.

Tivia Leith says she was driving eastbound on Sunrise Highway with her 9-year-old son when she was pulled over in December 2021.

She says she asked the officer why she was being pulled over and he didn't give her an answer.

Leith says six Nassau County officers were there at the time of the traffic stop as she was placed in handcuffs, jailed and strip searched. She says her child was crying as she was taken away by the police.

"I felt embarrassed, I felt ashamed," Leith says.

She was kept by police and then transferred over to state police for over 10 hours based on what she describes as a "phantom warrant."

Leith was previously charged with DWI in August 2020 and a bench warrant was issued for her at the time, but that was later vacated by a judge in September 2021 - three months before she was pulled over and taken in.

She and her attorney allege that she was pulled over because she is Black.

Attorney Frederick K. Brewington says for every one White person arrested in 2018, 4.6 African Americans were arrested even though they make up around 10% of the population.

"That type of policing in Nassau County has to stop," Brewington says.

Leith says her child and her have had to get counseling after the incident. She says it changed their lives and described it as a living nightmare that keeps repeating over and over.

"All I think about on the road is being pulled over again for no reason other than the color of my skin," Leith says.

News 12 reached out to Nassau County police and had not heard back as of 4 p.m. Tuesday. State police declined to comment on pending litigation.