PITTSBURGH, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- A group of Mexican men sued J.C. Penney Co. and a western Pennsylvania police officer Thursday, charging they were detained because of their nationality.
The American Civil Liberties Union is representing the men in the lawsuit, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
The nine plaintiffs say they are in the United States on temporary work visas valid for employment with a Pittsburgh-area lawn services company. They live in one apartment with a shared van.
The detention occurred in October 2010 during a group shopping trip to the Pittsburgh Mills Mall in Frazer. After one man in the group used a $100 bill in J.C. Penney, four of the men were detained by Frazer police officers under contract to provide security at the store on suspicion of using counterfeit money.
Police eventually took all nine to a nearby substation, the complaint said. The men said they were held without food and water.
After their release, the men discovered the van had been thoroughly searched with grocery bags knocked over and food trampled on.
One of the plaintiffs, Arturo Ocampo Aponte, said investigators showed him a photo of a Hispanic man suspected of passing counterfeit bills. He said the man looked nothing like any of the men in the group.
