TOLEDO, Ohio (WOWO) – Defiance police are being sued in a civil rights suit related to a traffic incident in 2021.
The Crescent-News reports that case, which was the arrest of Roberta Natasha-Lynn Shaffer on an OVI charge in December 2021, was dismissed.
Shaffer was alleged to have been “driving all over the roadway” and was pulled over by officer Whitney Schalk.
Shaffer was arrested after a series of field sobriety tests but claimed that he had not been drinking or using drugs.
Perrysburg attorney Francis Landry says Shaffer was the subject of discrimination because he is a transgender person and his 14th Amendment rights were violated.
“Plaintiff was and is a transgender individual,” the suit states. “This fact was known to the defendants prior to plaintiff’s arrest and during defendants’ pursuit of OVI charges against plaintiff, all without probable cause. In charging and arresting plaintiff, the defendants discriminated against plaintiff, and similarly situated non-transgender individuals are not subjected to such demeaning arrests without reason or cause. Plaintiff was subject to clear and over profiling. The actions of defendants were taken against plaintiff in violation of the equal protection clause” of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
Further, the suit claims that the arrest was “precipitated by a call from an individual who hated plaintiff because of plaintiff’s looks. The defendants, not even having observed plaintiff’s driving or erratic driving. Defendants, however, proceeded to pull plaintiff over and engage in discriminatory conduct against plaintiff due to claims of plaintiff’s looking like a girl.”
Shaffer was fired from his job as a bus driver for Paulding Exempted Village Schools, which he claims was a result of the OVI charge.
After a urinalysis report came back negative on April 5, the OVI charge was dismissed the next day.
City Law Director Sean O’Donnell says Shaffer later informed police that he was “taking medications on the day of the traffic stop that, in his opinion, likely caused him to fail the field sobriety tests.”
14 comments
yea! Good for Shaffer! I’m tired of hearing how Defiance city and county violate the 14th amendment. The over profiling, and discrimination needs to stop. Those that continue to do so need to be fired or punished
Looks like your Civil Rights case needs to be thrown right in the Trash since the mentally ill individual (gender confused) “Shaffer later informed police that he (?) was “taking medications on the day of the traffic stop that, in his opinion, likely caused him to fail the field sobriety tests.””
I feel bad for these confused people and hope they get treatment for their mental condition.
But at the end of the day, Shaffer should have lost his (?) Job as a bus driver just solely based on the mental condition of being gender confused….then throw in the medication factor which caused Shaffer “drive all over the road” and fail the field sobriety tests the day of the incident….who would want their kids riding around with him (?)
This victimhood status by the mentally ill- projected onto the public needs to end….Hopefully Defiance will counter Sue to recover the Public money spent on obvious BS Lawsuits. Good Luck!!
afraid to sign your statement
Why would I need to be afraid?….
Along with Mental Illness, Do these type of people tend to be extremely Violent?
BTW: You didn’t “Sign” your Statement
also notice you couldn’t refute my statement…The Truth Hurts…
For the record, I was driving fine, the officer even stated that in the dash cam. You have no clue who I am, and your homophobic transphobic shows.
That officer did the same to me on 21Aug 2022 only thing is I evaded her. it was retaliation for DOJ complaint I filed against Ruskey,Doctor, from Bryan Ohio and defiance officer Michelle whitimyer was talking to me on a dating sight to locate me for Whitney I know everything Whitney and olivia
I am going to hold all of them accountable to think a veteran would target another funny Whitney had approached me earlier that day funny she’s the one who’s targeting me we will see real soon my lawyers are coming i had to flee my home because these criminal police targeting veterans
Yes ..I’m really glad Justice was done.
May 20 of 2020 I was arrested and the cop pulled me out of the car an slammed my face in the asphalt knocking out all my teeth dislocating my shoulder.. that I already had hardware in. I was 65 then. I am also handicapped. I was trying to find a police to come and search my house because somebody broke in. and it ended up a mess but I didn’t deserve the police brutality that happened. I wish I would have had the money to pay a lawyer to sue them. just wanting the people know what they do to the elderly.
To the rise of the person to afraid to sign his name in the above message. Who said he was swerving? No one in fact, the officer stated in a report from something I read and saw on TV in the past that he showed no signs of being impaired. Impaired is clearly the person who wrote the previous article or bigotry not sure which, but clearly out of touch. You weren’t there, you know nothing, all you do is blubber on endlessly showing everyone that the mental problem is the person who doesn’t have all the facts and makes some up because he gets a thrill out of it. get your head out of the ground and up where it supposed to be and wake up. The swerving comments only came out recently. And the previous video that aired on TV sometime ago stated that she saw no swerving or nothing to indicate any of the things that are now coming out other than she thought he had red eyes, and then at the police station claimed that the eyes were not red. Did you know that the individual who called this in is now in prison? That’s a good person to rely on for information. Just because you don’t understand someone’s alternate lifestyle choices doesn’t make you the Almighty. It’s not for me either nor will I ever choose an alternate lifestyle, but it doesn’t make someone mentally ill , more than the guy who wrote a sarcastic comment and was too afraid to sign his name. If you’re going to be critical and hateful, be brave enough to put your name on there otherwise it means nothing.
I looked for the word “swerving” in all comments above and couldn’t find that word, so that’s your word….only quotes in the above comment.
I love the “You weren’t there” argument when it’s only applied to the position you don’t agree with.
ALL Transgenders, by definition have “Mental” issues….Your brain thinks you are a woman(FICTION) , but your Biology (FACT) is a man.
“Hateful”….LOL. I guess that using quotes, science and Fact is “Hateful”
“Lifestyle”…I remember member when the LGBT community just wanted to “Live and Let Live”…..Now the Trans community has grooming parties for children….but you think that’s OK?
Why do I need to “Sign” my comment….you going to hunt me down, get me fired from my job and attack my family because my perspective is different from yours?….Isn’t that what this community does to people with different views? Yep, we all know…. Hateful
I know this person. If it wants to become a chick or whatever, go for it. There is no way he should be using for discrimination. He was reported driving recklessly and the police did their job. Dropped the ovi even though they shouldn’t have. This person has had many jobs it can’t keep and is looking to cash out on some fake claims. Blame yourself for not being able to keep a job. Maybe seek some counseling.
First off Craig, you don’t know me, unless you know me from school, because that is the only Craig I know. The Craig I know is a good guy, great family, but is educationally challenged, so there is serious doubts that you are him. I was a school bus driver for 10 years, over 2/3 of that with one district I would suggest you all google Shaffer Schalk so you can see the video that WTOL did on this in 2022. So, back to I can’t hold a job, your statement of me not being able to hold a job is untrue, with my employment record with the school. The reason people don’t speak up, is because they can’t handle the personal attacks on them. But for all you that say I am mentally ill, I can handle the attacks, because I know the truth and the truth will come out. Furthermore, I never hired an attorney, or took a court appointed attorney for this charge, and had it dismissed. I also took no plea agreement of reckless operation, that was offered to me. The officer admitted in my complaint against her, there was not smell of liquor, drugs, I was speaking coherently, and she could not see anything out of the normal. She arrested me because I was in a hurry, ignoring the fact that there was a Door Dash delivery person and there was a delivery on my front seat. The medication I take is for potassium because at the time, it was abnormally low, and I was suffering from leg cramps and irregular heartbeat. The Ohio Court of Appeals has held that a minor traffic violation, coupled with a moderate smell of alcohol or drugs, does not create the reasonable articulable suspicion” necessary for an officer to as a driver to perform a field sobriety test. The DPD sited no traffic violation, could not smell or see any alcohol or drugs, in the vehicle I was driving. All of this is public information, if you just do a little research yourself. I will not accept any settlements, unless there is a full-blown public apology from the city and the caller is charged with a hate crime. I will hold everyone responsible for the wrongs that were done to me, rather it was on purpose or not, and it starts with the phone call.
I should of added “Blood Shot eyes” in the Ohio Appeals Court. Also, the Ohio Appeals Court has ruled that an officer cannot go off of a phone call, the officer must see the infraction or infractions. Schalk saw neither and in fact in my complaint against her, she admitted I was driving fine and found no impairment.
This is my first time pay a quick visit at here and
i am really pleassant to read everthing at one place.