Video shows arrested protester took off clothes inside police car, was not illegally strip-searched by cops

SHELBY TWP., Mich. (FOX 2) - On Saturday activists took to social media claiming police officers strip-searched a woman during a protest. But the newly released dashcam video tells a different story. 

Video from the back of a Shelby Township police car showed what really happened during a Detroit Will Breathe protest on Saturday. A woman who was arrested slipped out of her plastic handcuffs then takes off her shirt, her belt and her pants. 

“There, now you don't need to search me, I’ll make it easier on you,” said Jessica Nadeau on camera.

Police identified the woman as Jessica Nadeau from Minnesota. She later banged on the window. when officers opened the door.

“Now it's easier to search me,” she said. “Now you can search all of it.”

Protesters immediately took to social media and did interviews with FOX 2 claiming police strip-searched her. 

Jessica Nadeau from Minnesota was the arrested woman in the back of the police car.

“They ended up stripping a protester down, which is illegal to do in front of other people,” said protester Sammie Lewis.

“This is the problem with social media news, I would like to leave real news to real newscasters,” said Deputy Chief Mark Coil, Shelby Township police.

Coil said it was a classic example of what happens when people rush to judgment. 

“Most people don't understand the totality of the circumstance, they don't have the totality of the facts,” he said. “And they make their own opinion. And when you make your own opinion on false information or improper information, you make bad judgments.”

Police say around 100 protesters gathered on Saturday at 23 Mile and Van Dyke. Officers say the group blocked the road and refused to move despite several warnings. 

Now Nadeau Tristan Taylor, David Mitchell, Samantha Phillips and James Deninger are charged with felonies for resisting- obstructing or assaulting a police officer. 

“You can't put the lives and safety of our community at risk because you have a point to make,” Coil said. “If you have a point to make you can do it peacefully you can stay on the campus of the township you can stay in the parking lot there's no reason for you to traverse down a roadway.”

FOX 2 reached out to Detroit Will Breathe as well as the protester Sammie Lewis who spoke with us on Saturday. Both declined an interview. 

Arrested protesters Jessica Nadeau ,Tristan Taylor, David Mitchell, Samantha Phillips and James Deninger

Nakia Wallace from Detroit Will Breathe sent us a statement. it says in part, “The woman was clearly in some form of mental distress and should have been given professional help rather than having her naked body displayed in the middle of Van Dyke.”