CLEVELAND — A man is stopped, searched and a year later, accused of driving around with illegal drugs.

The driver, Henry Ray, fought a criminal case this summer and won.

He’s now alleging malicious prosecution in a new civil rights lawsuit filed one week ago.

Ray told News 5 Investigators he believes he was stopped because of the color of his skin and for the kind of car he drives, which he says was illegally searched during a traffic stop in October 2023.

The Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s deputies who pulled Ray over are James Decredico and Isen Vajusi. Both deputies worked with the Downtown Safety Patrol and are named in the lawsuit.

Ray says he hasn’t forgotten their faces.

“Especially when it’s the first time you’ve ever dealt with something like that,” Ray said.

Traffic stop invest

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