A 44-year-old systems analyst from Arbutus has filed a $500,000 lawsuit against Maryland State Police alleging that he was wrongfully arrested during a traffic stop near Ocean City because he called a female trooper "Hon."

"She was offended because I used the word 'Hon' and she thought I was degrading her," Frank J. Iula Jr. said yesterday. "I didn't mean to be demeaning. 'Hon' is a normal word, a pleasantry."

State police deny the allegation. In court papers they say that Iula yelled at Trooper Kelly A. Austin and was arrested after he refused repeated orders to remain in his car during the stop.

The suit, filed in Baltimore County Circuit Court, alleges that Austin stopped Iula for speeding while he was heading east on Route 50 near Route 346 in Berlin on his way to Ocean City with his three children Aug. 22, 1999.

Austin, 32, a six-year veteran assigned to the Berlin barracks, stopped Iula's Chevy Malibu about 9:40 a.m. when her radar gun clocked it at 78 mph in a 55-mph zone, according to court papers.

Austin approached Iula's car and asked for his license but walked back to her patrol car before he could give it to her, according to the suit. He then got out of his car and tried to walk back to Austin, but she shouted at him to get back in his car, the suit alleges.

Iula told Austin that he just wanted to hand her his license and registration and at that point, he "inadvertently called the trooper 'Hon,'" according to the suit.

The suit notes that the term is short for "Honey" and "is common parlance in Baltimore County."

But the suit alleges that after Iula used the word, Austin handcuffed him, placed him under arrest and told him to wait near his car while she checked his license and registration.

When Iula tried to explain himself to Austin a few minutes later, he called her "Hon" again, which made Austin "livid" and prompted her to put him in her car, according to the suit. It said the patrol car's heating system was turned on, giving Iula a severe heat rash.

Austin took Iula to the Berlin barracks, where he was held for six hours and charged with failing to obey a lawful command, hindering and obstructing a police officer and speeding.

The charges were dropped by the Worcester County state's attorney's office Oct. 1, 1999.

Austin did not return a phone call yesterday, but in a written statement included in the court papers, she says that at 180 pounds, Iula was "a lot bigger" than her and that he became abusive and refused three orders to get back into his car.

"Mr. Iula refused to get back into his vehicle and continued yelling and screaming and coming towards me," she said. "He had a smirk while he handed me his license and registration."

Affidavits filed by a family also stopped for speeding along the highway support Austin's version.

"Generally, he kept harassing her in a hostile and threatening manner," Mary Jean Dennis of Uniontown, Pa., who was on her way to Ocean City with her husband, son and daughter-in-law, wrote in an affidavit included with the suit.

Iula said in an interview that Dennis couldn't have heard what he and Austin were saying because she was across the highway. He also said he became scared of Austin because she seemed angry.

"At one point, I thought she was going to pull her pistol, and I was yelling out for people to call other police for help," he said in the interview.

The suit seeks $500,000 for state constitutional violations and unspecified damages on separate claims of defamation, malicious prosecution, conspiracy, excessive force, false imprisonment, false arrest, assault and battery.

The trial is set for July 11.