FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Opening arguments began in a Fort Lauderdale courtroom in the case of a Miramar police captain accused of forcing a teenage girl to strip during a traffic stop.
The alleged victim, now 16, took the stand on Tuesday and described being approached by Captain Juan De Los Rios in the parking lot of the Fountains shopping plaza in Jan. 2012.
According to police documents, De Los Rios approached the parked car where she and her boyfriend were sitting in the back seat. He allegedly asked: "Well, are you having sex?"
When the pair said they were not having sex, De Los Rios told her to pull down her pants so she could "prove it," according to detectives.
"He asked me to pull down my pants. And my underwear. And to turn and face him toward the window. And I said, 'why?' And he didn't believe we weren't having sex so he wanted to see if anything was coming out. I said, 'coming out of where?' And he said my genital area. He wanted to check," the teen testified Tuesday.
Months later, in June, De Los Rios was arrested and charged with lewd and lascivious conduct.
Defense attorneys Tuesday pointed to what they believe were too many inconsistencies with the girl's story during various interviews.
The teen first reported that the officer who approached her was tall and blonde, attorneys said. De Los Rios, however, is short and silver-haired.
She also initially said her boyfriend was 15 years old at the time. Instead, he was 19.
Proceedings continue Wednesday.
De Los Rios has pleaded not guilty.