Ex-N.Y. Officer Admits to Strip Stops

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — A former police officer pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges that he forced four women to strip after he pulled them over for traffic violations.

Prosecutors said Frank Wright, 36, forced one woman to walk home wearing only her underwear. He pleaded guilty to civil rights violations carrying up to five years and three months in prison.

No sentencing date was set, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sanford Cohen said.

A telephone call to Wright’s attorney for comment Tuesday was not returned.

Court documents filed by federal prosecutors in February accused Wright of mistreating more than a dozen women, while on patrol on Long Island between 1998 and 2000.

Several women said they were driven to isolated locations, sometimes in handcuffs, after they were stopped by Wright. Some were released without being forced to disrobe.

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