During a routine traffic stop, Defendant Police Officer grabbed Plaintiff by the neck and slammed her against the hood of his patrol car. Plaintiff sustained injuries consisting of an 8 mm disc protrusion, a 7 mm disc protrusion with bilateral nerve root compromise, and a 5 mm disc protrusion. Defendant Police Officer admitted to failing to properly focus his vehicle’s dashboard camera and not wearing his body microphone at the time of the incident.
Sheriff’s Deputies wanted to arrest Rogelio Serrato due to mistaken identity. They knew Serrato was intoxicated on methamphetamine in his home. When he did not respond to their orders to exit the home, they threw a flash bang grenade into the home, starting a fire. They failed to extinguish the fire, and Serrato died of smoke inhalation, leaving a mother, sisters, and three children.
Plaintiff TWICE arrested on another person’s warrant. First arrest resulted in 6 weeks of incarceration; second arrest resulted in 2 hours in jail. Sheriff’s dept was on notice for years that the warrant was wrongly using Plaintiff’s identifiers, instead of the identifiers for the true defendant, yet Sheriff’s dept kept refusing to update & correct the warrant.
Vasquez approaches Sgt. Faris inquiring why he’s got a friend kneeling on the sidewalk with others. Faris does not answer, tells him to go home. Vasquez is at home, he told Faris. Faris became angry and attacked Vasquez, knocking him to the sidewalk and battering him with a baton. Contreras hears the screaming and walked up yelling at Faris to stop hitting his cousin when Hines came from behind and smashed Contreras with a baton, fracturing his elbow, knocked him down and admitted 17 more blows justified by the claim Contreras was non compliant with verbal orders.
In 2012 client was pulled over on his motorcycle for his license plate light supposedly not being bright enough and then cited for not having a proper motorcycle license. After client received his citation, he was allowed to leave the scene on foot with his helmet and keys as the officers impounded the motorcycle. The officers later decided they wanted the keys to make towing the motorcycle easier. The officers then made contact with client about a ½ mile from the stop and requested the keys. Client refused to give the keys to them and was arrested.
Damages were a night in jail and subjected to false accusations and verbal abuses. Case tried in 2010 with three more plaintiffs who had been beaten up by officers. Defense verdict, new trial motion as to father and daughter granted 5 years (no typo) later. Incident took place 6/11/04 in Watts, South Central LA. Def Bright died in the meantime. Young and a lying K-9 officer (Stambaugh) who attempted to demonize the plaintiffs was caught by a video clip that had him in a place he said he wasn’t.
In custody death due to alleged positional asphyxia resulting from several officers dog-piling on top of a prone suspect.
Plaintiff, an African American 50 year-old, was sitting in his vehicle when approached by police about an open alcohol container in a parking lot. Plaintiff denied knowing anything about it and refused to allow a search of his vehicle. Plaintiff was placed in a chokehold and arrested. Toxicology revealed no alcohol in his system. Defendants City of San Leandro and Officer Michael Olivera settled prior to filing any motions.
City of Pomona illegally seizing the property of its residents experiencing homelessness. We sued to stop the practice and force the city to honor the plaintiffs' constitutional rights and compensate them for lost property.
Resolved post-filing; no dispositive motions decided.