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GREENSBORO - A Jamestown woman sued the city Wednesday for "intimidation" by four police officers who interrogated her for several hours in a hotel room while threatening to send her to prison and take away her children.

Nicole Pettiford and her husband, Anthony, allege the city is responsible for the activities of Detective Scott Sanders, a former member of the department's defunct Special Intelligence unit.

Filed in Guilford County Superior Court, the lawsuit says that Sanders was among the officers in the Residence Inn on Veasley Street on Nov. 9, 2004, when Nicole Pettiford was "unlawfully held" for six hours. The court filing does not identify the other officers.

The Pettifords also say officers ignored Nicole's demand to be released and "subjected her to a course of cruel and unusual punishment" by denying her food or sleep.

Nor was she allowed to answer her ringing cell phone, the lawsuit claims.

The Pettifords are seeking a minimum of $20,000 each, along with attorney fees. If the lawsuit goes to trial, a court date is at least six months away.

Martin Erwin, an attorney for the city, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Seth Cohen, an attorney for Sanders, called the claims "ridiculous" and "completely untrue" and that neither Sanders nor his colleagues in the room did anything wrong.

"Officer Sanders and three other officers conducted a lawful interview with Nicole," he said.

"There was nothing illegal or improper done."

The lawsuit only briefly mentions why Nicole Pettiford was questioned.

The filing alleges that detectives sought "knowledge of the activities of certain black police officers."

In a January interview, Pettiford told the News & Record that the detectives thought she was obtaining internal information from Greensboro police officers relating to an ongoing drug investigation.

Pettiford denied having any access to the supposed information. She admitted she sold fraudulent documents to a person who turned out to be a witness in a federal drug case.

In addition to the hotel interrogation, the lawsuit claims Nicole Pettiford was subjected to "an ongoing campaign of harassment" by Sanders. She accuses him of ruining her reputation among co-workers at a used car dealership and manipulating bank employees to charge her with writing bad checks.

Sanders was part of Special Intelligence in 2004 as some members of his unit conducted internal investigations against black officers accused of wrongdoing, including Lt. James Hinson.

Allegations by Hinson and his lawyer, plus complaints unrelated to Special Intelligence, led City Manager Mitchell Johnson to hire an independent firm to investigate former Chief David Wray's administration. Wray subsequently resigned.

The State Bureau of Investigation is continuing its own criminal investigation of the Special Intelligence unit.

Sanders, on paid suspension from the department pending the outcome of an internal review of the police scandal, was not named as a defendant.

"It's not necessary under the law to name the bad actor in order to reach the city, which is the responsible party here," said the Pettifords' attorney,

S. Camille Payton. "It is my hope that they won't go that step, and instead, they'll consider resolving this matter ... before we spend a lot of time in the court system."

The lawsuit claims the Pettifords experienced ill effects from the interrogation and the alleged ensuing harassment.

The end result: "Plaintiffs were mentally and physically sick, suffering nightmares, stomach pain, headaches sleeplessness, anxiety and continue to feel pain and were forced to incur expenses."

Contact Eric J.S. Townsend at 373-7008 or etownsend@news-record.com