I-TEAM: Woman sues BRPD, claims officer sexually assaulted her

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - A woman has filed a federal lawsuit against the Baton Rouge Police Department, Chief Murphy Paul, officer Wade Hill and the city over allegations that the officer sexually assaulted her at the Northgate Apartments in 2022.

Hill is accused of handcuffing the woman who was a trespassing suspect and placing her into his private vehicle on July 8, 2022. This is after he allegedly drove her to his apartment, moving her from his patrol unit into his private vehicle. The two allegedly then drove around Baton Rouge. The female says Hill grabbed her buttocks and made several “sexual comments” toward her during the encounter.

Hill is also accused of then driving the woman to his apartment off Highland Road where he allegedly masturbated in front of her. The lawsuit alleges Hill then took the woman to a nail salon and offered her money to get her nails done, then dropped her off in the parking lot of the nail salon. The woman reported the alleged incident to BRPD Internal Affairs three days later. Her allegations were later corroborated by surveillance footage, officer body camera footage and GPS tracking.

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Hill was hired in December 2020. He was arrested September 1, 2022 and was booked into jail on charges of kidnapping, obscenity, malfeasance in office, and misdemeanor sexual battery.

The lawsuit accuses the city and the department for not properly examining and scrutinizing the background of Officer Hill.

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