CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A second lawsuit was filed Friday against a West Virginia State Police trooper who allegedly kidnapped and raped a woman in 2021.
The complaint, filed in Kanawha County Circuit Court Friday, claims Trooper Michael Miller told a woman at the Front Room bar and grill in Logan County that he was a WVSP Trooper and he needed to speak with her on July 10, 2021.
Miller and two other men then allegedly abducted the woman and sexually assaulted her. According to the lawsuit, she tried to get help from a friend, but the three men blocked her view and took her out of the bar after she was drugged.
The complaint said the woman was then thrown into a vehicle, raped by Miller and then left in the parking lot of another bar.
The lawsuit was filed by Charleston attorneys Dante DiTrapano and Jesse Forbes.
The filing comes after another woman in May filed a similar lawsuit alleging Miller kidnapped her from the American Legion No. 19 in Logan in Dec. 2021 and then raped her.
According to the complaint, the woman woke up naked in her bed with blood, urine and feces covering her body. The woman alleges her earrings had been ripped out of her ears, her hair was pulled out and her teeth were damaged. She was treated at CAMC Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Charleston.
The most recent lawsuit said State Police was aware of the allegations against Miller but did not do anything. Forbes, in a statement released Friday, described the second allegation as “troubling” and “shocking.”
“These allegations have not only shattered this victim’s world but unfortunately continue to shatter the public’s confidence in our law enforcement community,” Forbes stated.
DiTrapano echoed Forbes’ concerns and said the victim is working to seek justice.
“While the victim is cooperating with and hopeful that the criminal justice system will hold those responsible to account, she is moving forward through the civil justice system to protect her rights and help to continue to bring these continued problems into the light of day so that no one else has to suffer as these victims have,” DiTrapano said.
No criminal charges against Miller have been filed.
State Police have said the FBI is investigating allegations against a current employee and that an internal investigation will follow the FBI’s investigation.