Portland woman settles with state police after allegations of body-slamming, excessive force
A Maine woman has reached a settlement in her lawsuit against a Maine State Police trooper she accused of body-slamming her without cause during a 2024 incident in Chelsea.
Marie Searles, of Portland, agreed to an award of $54,000 on Oct. 13, according to the settlement agreement provided by the Office of the Maine Attorney General. The payment for her alleged physical injuries and emotional distress was first reported by the Bangor Daily News.
Searles filed the complaint in U.S. District Court against both Trooper Hunter Belanger and his supervisor, Lt. Aaron Turcotte. Neither man immediately responded to requests for comment about the allegations Wednesday, but both denied the allegations in court paperwork.
Searles’ lawsuit also came weeks after a Limerick man sued another Maine State Police trooper for repeatedly punching him in the face while he was handcuffed on the ground, as reported in an investigation by The Maine Monitor and Bangor Daily News.
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Maine State Police trooper ‘body-slammed’ Chelsea woman, according to lawsuit
The parties agreed to dismiss Searles’ claims on Wednesday, according to court documents.
In the October 2025 complaint, Searles claimed that Belanger assaulted her in Chelsea after she refused to speak with him. Searles had walked near Belanger’s cruiser, where he was drafting a search warrant for a nearby camper. He asked her to come speak with him, and she walked away, according to court documents.
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Then, Searles alleged, Belanger grabbed her, “flipped her body up into the air” and slammed her against the ground. According to the complaint, Searles also accused Belanger of pinning her the ground with his knee and slamming her against his car.
Searles also alleged that Turcotte let Belanger commit similar conduct during a man’s January 2024 arrest in Readfield.
Belanger and Turcotte denied the allegations in November 2025 court filings, which state that Belanger “secured Searles and took her to the ground,” as well as “put Searles on the hood of his cruiser.”
They said any injury to Searles “was the result of her own fault,” according to court documents.
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Tagged: lawsuit, maine crime, maine state police
Morgan covers breaking news and public safety for the Portland Press Herald. Before moving to Maine in 2024, she reported for Michigan State University's student-run publication, as well as the Indianapolis. More by Morgan Womack
