SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Newly obtained bodycam footage shows the moments at the center of an Illinois man’s lawsuit claiming police officers mistook his 2-year-old daughter’s ashes in a small urn for drugs during a traffic stop.Dartavius Barnes was pulled over on April 6, 2020, in the city of Springfield, Illinois, according to the lawsuit.
Video obtained recently by WICS-TV and FOX Illinois shows the incident unfold as officers searched Barnes’ vehicle while he was handcuffed and detained.
The lawsuit claims the officers "desecrated and spilled out the ashes" of Barnes’ daughter who had died a year earlier.While being handcuffed, an officer can be heard asking in the footage if Barnes had anything in his car. "Not really," Barnes can be heard.