Deming, New Mexico — David Eckert, 54, claims that his civil rights were violated, in a lawsuit  filed in the U.S. District Court, claiming that police had subjected him to repeated anal probes and enemas, after a routine traffic stop suspecting him of carrying drugs.  

The legal action stems from Eckert’s treatment by the Deming police department, after he was pulled over in January for failing to come to a complete stop while exiting a Wal-Mart parking lot.

Officers suspected that he was hiding drugs in his anus, based on the way he was standing and the fact that a police dog alerted to his driver’s seat, and obtained a search warrant “to include but not limited to (plaintiff’s) anal cavity,” according to the lawsuit.

After a medical facility in Deming refused to carry out the procedures, Eckert was taken to Gila Regional Medical Center in nearby Silver City, the lawsuit says, where he was forced to undergo eight searches — including digital penetration of his anus, three enemas, two X-rays and a colonoscopy.

Ultimately, no drugs were found, according to the complaint, which says that the Gila Regional Medical Center billed Eckert for the services it performed.