A family, including a 72-year-old disabled woman and her two daughters, encounter Alameda County Sheriff deputies in Castro Valley, California. The deputies question the woman’s right to park in a disabled spot despite a visible placard, demanding her identification, which she refuses to provide.
The family’s attorney, Craig Peters, explains that the deputies violated their constitutional rights by asking for identification without reasonable suspicion. The situation escalates, with the deputies detaining and handcuffing all three women, despite their insistence that they had not committed any crimes. The deputies’ body cams were muted during parts of the interaction, raising concerns about departmental policies regarding the use of body-worn cameras.
A case involving the arrest of three black women in a disabled parking spot without proper reasoning or evidence is discussed. The incident occurred in Alameda County, where officers have more discretion in deactivating their body-worn cameras. The women were held for approximately 70 minutes and were not issued charges. The search of their car and belongings was a violation of their constitutional rights, as they could not be arrested without articulable reasons. The initial report of the incident did not mention the involvement of women, and the deputies testified that they were investigating car burglaries.
However, the jury found that the family was owed $8.25 million in damages, with Deputy Holland liable for $2.7 million to the mother and $2 million to each daughter, and Deputy Monica Pope liable for $750,000 to both daughters. The jury also found that Alameda County was liable for the officers’ actions. Despite the large damages award, neither deputy has faced any career consequences, and both have since been promoted to Sergeant. Some speculate that race was a factor in the incident, but an internal investigation found that the deputies did nothing wrong.
Alameda County was revealed to have the highest payouts among Bay Area enforcement agencies during a certain time period, with the two agencies before it having payouts of 5.5 million and 5 million dollars respectively. The death of a 20-year-old man led to these payouts. Attorney Peters expressed his disappointment in the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office for not addressing the issue earlier and instead choosing to sweep it under the rug. No apology or efforts to correct the situation were made by the sheriff’s office.
Yeti Lagervale, a disabled woman, made it to her math test but was over 40 minutes late and is set to graduate from UCLA later this year. The family’s compensation for the poor treatment they received is yet to be determined. Many commenters on the video were outraged by the actions of the police and called for accountability and reform. The case raises questions about qualified immunity, which protects government officials from lawsuits alleging rights violations, and the need for public officials to be held accountable for irresponsible use of power.
