Natives sue over White Mountain rapist arrests

WHITERIVER — Two men who were accused of being serial rapists and later cleared by a judge are now suing the tribal police officers who arrested them, claiming they violated their civil rights.

The rapes occured in the summer and fall of 2006 in Whiteriver, the capital of the White Mountain Apache Tribe in northeastern Arizona. Authorities say the rapist disguised himself as a masked police officer, detained teenage girls in the community, then took them to an abandoned house or remote area to sexually assault them. The case garnered national press attention.

But today, two of the suspects who were released are contesting their arrests. In recent court filings, Jeremy Reed and Jesse Dupris are suing the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs and the White Mountain Apache Tribal Police Department.

Reed, who is married, was arrested Oct. 20, 2006 at his home. Police arrested him without a warrant, the complaint states, based on an interview with one of the rape victims. The 16-year-old allegedly told police her attacker had hairy eyebrows, and she picked Reed out of a photo lineup the officers brought to her school.

Officers also say Reed was a solid suspect because he was working as a security guard for the tribe’s housing authority, which would have given him knowledge of which houses were empty.

But Reed’s lawyers say the investigation was a dud. They say the victim’s “hairy eyebrow” testimony was weak. She also admitted to being drunk on Zima, a malt liquor beverage, at the time of the attack. The photo lineup was shown six months after the incident, lawyers say, and Reed hadn’t started working for the housing authority until at least three weeks after the attack. A judge dismissed the case against Reed on April 27, 2007.

Lawyers are claiming police bungled the investigation of Dupris in the same way. First, a local police officer told investigators she saw Dupris in the area of the attacks wearing his housing authority security outfit. But lawyers say the information was unreliable because Dupris had quit and was not working for the agency at the time of the sighting.

They also say that the victims’ description of the rapist and the actual description of Dupris don’t match. They claimed the rapist was short and stocky, while Dupris is the opposite, standing at 6 feet, 4 inches tall.

Dupris, who is married, did not have access to the keys that opens many of the houses in the area the attacks occured. Only a supervisor did. An authorized search police conducted of Dupris’ house did not turn up any of the gear the rapist allegedly used. A judge dismissed the case on Feb. 20, 2007.

Now Reed and Dupris are suing the police in federal court in Tucson. They are both represented by Phoenix lawyer Joel Robbins.