KILLEN, Alabama — A police officer in Alabama asked a woman how she wanted to “get out of this” during a traffic stop, then he handcuffed and raped her in his patrol car, prosecutors said.
Jarrod Gailen Webster was sentenced to 15 years in prison, and now the woman is suing Webster, the chief of the Killen Police Department and the town of Killen, Alabama, according to a federal lawsuit filed September 3.
Police Chief Bryan Hammond declined to comment on the lawsuit September 5. Webster did not have any attorney listed in court records as of September 5, and the town did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.
Jarrod Gailen Webster of Killen, Alabama
Webster pleaded guilty to deprivation of rights under the color of law from the traffic stop incident, as well as sexual exploitation of children in a case involving another victim, McClatchy News reported in March.
The now former officer pulled over the woman during a traffic stop November 12, 2023, prosecutors said in a plea agreement.
He asked what she wanted to do to “get out of this,” and she responded that she wasn’t going to do anything, and he could cuff her and take her to jail, according to court documents.
His body-worn camera shows him pull her over, then he turns off his camera after she gets out of her vehicle, prosecutors said.
Webster is then accused of handcuffing the woman and sexually assaulting her.
He told her if she told anyone what happened, he had her address from her ID, and he threatened to find her, according to prosecutors.
The woman underwent a sexual assault examination, which confirmed the presence of Webster’s DNA, authorities said.
Webster was also accused of soliciting explicit photos from a teen girl he met during her brother’s graduation at an Air Force base, documents show.
The lawsuit says the Killen Police Department didn’t stop Webster’s behavior and accuses the police chief and the town, by extension, of condoning his actions and not properly training him.
The woman’s attorneys specifically pointed to a Facebook comment that got Hammond suspended for 15 days, AL.com reported. H
e later said he was joking when he commented “silence is consent” under a political post, and clarified he meant that “in reference to people ignoring accusations from the opposing side,” WHNT reported.
The lawsuit accuses Webster of violating her federal constitutional rights through use of excessive force, cruel and unusual punishment and deprivation of due process by unlawfully detaining and sodomizing her.
Under state law, the lawsuit also brings forward allegations of assault and battery, liberty deprivation/false imprisonment, invasion of privacy and negligent training, supervision and retention.
The filing doesn’t specify how much money the woman is seeking in damages and requests a jury trial.
Killen is about a 70-mile drive west from Huntsville.
By OLIVIA LLOYD/McClatchy News
Olivia Lloyd is a National Real-Time Reporter for McClatchy covering the Southeast. She is based in South Florida and graduated from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Previously, she has worked for Hearst DevHub and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
