A Chelsea woman is suing a Maine State Police trooper who she says body-slammed her last year without cause, less than two months after he allegedly used excessive force against a suspect in another case.

Marie Searles claims Hunter Belanger assaulted her after she refused to talk with him on March 10, 2024. She filed a complaint against Belanger and his supervisor, Lt. Aaron Turcotte, in U.S. District Court on Thursday.

Searles said she was walking nearby as Belanger was drafting a search warrant in his cruiser for a camper in Chelsea, where Belanger said he saw several drug-related items discarded outside.

Searles did not stop when Belanger asked to speak with her, according to her complaint, at which point he grabbed her, “flipped her body up into the air” and slammed her against the ground.

Searles said Belanger pinned her to the ground, using his knee against her neck, and slammed her a second time against his car after a pat-down search. The trooper announced he was arresting her for failure to submit, although Searles’ attorneys said prosecutors dismissed the charge that June.

Neither Belanger nor Turcotte responded to requests for comment.

Searles is suing Turcotte because she believes he let Belanger get away with similar conduct during another man’s arrest in Readfield on Jan. 17, 2024.

Multiple law enforcement agencies were waiting for a suspect to emerge from the woods so he could be seen by emergency medical providers when Belanger shouted for the man to turn around with his hands behind his back, according to the complaint.

“Trooper Belanger went hands-on with the suspect within 1-2 seconds of his command
before giving the suspect the opportunity to respond in any way,” the complaint states.

Belanger handcuffed the man in an “uncomfortable” position and left him on the ground for other officers to deal with.

Searles’ attorneys said Maeghan Maloney, district attorney for Kennebec County, later complained about the incident in a letter to Maine State Police Capt. Jeff Love, calling it “completely inappropriate conduct.”

Maloney did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Searles’ lawsuit claims that state police have engaged “in a long-standing practice of failing to properly investigate and discipline troopers in cases of excessive force.”

Belanger’s conduct in January 2024 was one of 33 complaints Maine State Police investigated between 2015 and 2024, Searles’ attorneys said, all of which the agency deemed were unfounded.

State police spokesperson Shannon Moss declined to discuss those incidents Thursday.

“We have received notice of claim,” Moss wrote in an email. “We’re not providing comment on pending litigation at this time.”

Searles’ lawsuit was filed weeks after a Limerick man sued another trooper for repeatedly punching him in the face during an arrest. An investigation by The Maine Monitor and Bangor Daily News showed Justin Savage was already handcuffed on the ground when the trooper struck him.

“There is no question that law enforcement officers have a very difficult and important job, but there needs to be accountability in situations where officers, like here, cross the line and engage in unnecessary use of force,” Searles’ attorney Kurt Peterson said in an email. “It is disturbing that we continue to see more of these cases coming to light in recent reporting, and our view is that it is a product of a lack of accountability within the Maine State Police.”