She had a gun in the car and spent a night in jail. Now she’s suing Bluffton police

A Bluffton police officer and the department he works for are being sued by a woman who claims she was wrongfully arrested and jailed overnight when a gun was found in her car during a traffic stop.

The civil lawsuit was filed Tuesday in the Beaufort County Court of Common Pleas by Chelsea Lynn Howard against the Bluffton Police Department and Officer George Wetzel, according to court documents.

Howard, of Glynn County, Ga., alleges that during a Jan. 30, 2015 traffic stop, Wetzel found a Ruger LCP .38 caliber pistol in her vehicle and claimed it was stolen. The lawsuit alleges that Howard was in “proper possession of the pistol and it was not stolen.”

In the police report taken on the day Howard was arrested, Wetzel wrote that Howard was traveling at a “high rate of speed” on May River Road with no rear license plate illumination when he pulled her over.

Howard and her passenger were asked to step out of the vehicle when another officer saw the handle of what appeared to be a handgun in a black and tan holster in the glove box of the vehicle as Howard lokked for her registration and insurance documents.

Howard told the officers that the handgun belonged to her, and that her father purchased it at a store outside Atlanta.

When the other officer checked the weapon’s serial number, it came back as a stolen weapon stolen in New York, the report said.

Howard was placed under arrest and charged with possession of a stolen pistol, the lawsuit said. She spent the night in jail as a result.

“(Wetzel and the Bluffton Police Department) were negligent, grossly negligent, malicious, reckless, wanton and consciously and deliberately indifferent to (Howard) and (Howard’s) civil rights,” the lawsuit said.

The suit accuses Wetzel and the police department of failing to properly train and supervise their agents and employees and properly investigating the charges against Howard. It also says the officer falsely accused Howard of committing a crime and arrested, imprisoned and restrained her without proper investigation or probable cause.

When contacted by a reporter, Joy Nelson, spokesperson for the police department, said the department was not aware of the lawsuit and passed the reporter’s questions along to the town’s attorney, Terry Finger of Finger, Melnick & Brooks P.A. A call to Finger’s office Friday afternoon was not successful.

Chief Joseph Manning said that to his knowledge the town had not received official notice of the lawsuit.

An attempt to reach Wetzel was unsuccessful since he is on military leave from the department until May, Nelson said.

A call to Howard’s attorney — Grahame Holmes of Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick P.A. in Walterboro — to inquire about the lawsuit and reach Howard was not successful.

This story was originally published February 2, 2018 at 2:25 PM with the headline "She had a gun in the car and spent a night in jail. Now she’s suing Bluffton police."