03-03-2025
Lawsuit: Alabama couple claims they were illegally arrested by Sevierville Police
SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — An Alabama couple is suing the City of Sevierville and the Sevierville Police Department after they were accused of DUI and lost custody of their children for nine months.
The lawsuit, filed by Nicholas and Elizabeth Frye, claims their constitutional rights were violated and their family has suffered 'irreparable, permanent and significant mental and emotional anguish. The couple is seeking to have their case heard by a jury.
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The lawsuit claims Nicholas Frye, Elizabeth Frye and their two children travelled to Sevier County to celebrate their youngest child's birthday. On February 25, 2024, Elizabeth slipped and fell on concrete stairs at the resort the family was staying at.
Due to her injuries, the family went to Walmart to get supplies. The lawsuit claims that as they were leaving Walmart, the couple was pulled over for 'no justifiable reason.' The parents were accused of being intoxicated and arrested. They were charged with DUI, public intoxication, child abuse, neglect and aggravated child abuse and neglect 'without sufficient evidence for probable cause,' according to the lawsuit.
The children were taken to the Sevierville Police Department where the lawsuit says they were held until their grandmother arrived from Alabama. An SPD officer contacted the Tennessee Department of Children's Services about the parents' arrests. Tennessee's DCS then contacted the Alabama Department of Human Resources. The parents were then precluded from seeing their children 'without any evidentiary basis and without probable cause,' according to the lawsuit. It took nine months for the Fryes to regain custody of their children.
The suit closes by claiming the officers who arrested the Fryes and the agents who acted to remove their children violated their 14th Amendment rights and were deliberately indifferent to their rights, making the arrests and removal illegal. It also claims the City of Sevierville has a history of similar 'illegal seizures and removals,' making them liable. In addition, it claims the city, state of Tennessee, the Department of Children's Services did not properly train their officers.
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The couple is seeking relief for 'the cost of past and future medical care, attorneys' fees spent in defending the state's criminal action against them, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, and non-economic damages for mental and emotional pain and suffering, mental and emotional anguish, permanent impairment and disabilities, and loss of enjoyment of life' and their attorney's fees.
The city of Sevierville said they do not comment on pending litigation in response to a question from 6 News about the lawsuit.
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