SANDPOINT, Idaho (AP) -- An Oregon man is accusing Idaho police officers of destroying the mystical qualities of his Native American medicine bag when they opened it during a drunk driving arrest last summer.
The tort claim filed recently by 49-year-old Craig Clark Show, of Portland, seeks $25,000 in damages from the Idaho State Police and Bonner County Sheriff Department, according to the Daily Bee newspaper.
Show also alleges he was persecuted because of his religious beliefs after he was stopped by northern Idaho authorities last August. The Bonner County Daily Bee reports that police arrested Show, charging him with driving under the influence of alcohol. He had a blood alcohol level of .16, police said.
In the tort claim, Show says the medicine bag had been blessed by a medicine woman and has been sealed since 1995. But he says the bag's mystical qualities were damaged when opened by officers.
The tort claim also alleges that a police dog scratched his Harley-Davidson during a search.
