Family sues after police question Rhode Island 3rd-grader for hours
PROVIDENCE - A Rhode Island family is suing after their third-grader was taken off a school bus and questioned for hours by police, because another student reported the girl had chemicals in her backpack.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island filed the federal lawsuit Thursday against the town of Tiverton.
The lawsuit says another student on the 8-year-old's bus told the monitor in October 2014 that she and another 8-year-old girl had chemicals in their bags. The lawsuit says the bus driver called the police, who searched the girls' backpacks and found nothing but still brought them to the police station.
The town administrator says he is still conducting an internal investigation and is disappointed the family sued.