Lawsuit claims Sacramento police need racial training after holding teens at gunpoint
Sacramento police officers held three teenage boys at gunpoint on suspicion of a burglary for which they did not match the description, a lawsuit filed in federal court last week alleges. The lawsuit demands the city train officers on racially motivated police stops.
In June 2019, three 13- and 14-year-olds, two Black and one Latino, were walking to McDonald’s on Mack Road in Sacramento’s Parkway neighborhood when they were approached by officers who told them to “get the f--- on the ground,” the lawsuit says.
The boys complied, knelt on the concrete and put their arms above their head, then one officer held the boys at gunpoint, the lawsuit alleged.
Officers then split the boys up for questioning, without their parents present, and questioned them about a burglary that occurred 10 minutes earlier at a location that was 30 minutes’ walking distance, the complaint alleges.
An officer told one boy’s parent that the description they had received was “three blacks.” When the parent told the officer her son was visibly Latino, he then stated that the “clothing matched,” the lawsuit alleged.
The burglary suspects were four adults, the complaint states.
All of the boys had to seek counseling due to the event and one was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, the complaint said.
The city declined comment on the lawsuit because it had not yet been served with it, city spokesman Tim Swanson said Saturday. A police spokesperson did not respond to an email seeking comment.
The lawsuit names the city and the two officers as defendants. It claims excessive use of force, assault, false imprisonment and other claims.
The officers’ first names are not listed, only their last names. It is unclear whether the officers are still employed by the city.
The lawsuit demands compensatory and punitive damages. It also seeks for the city to issue a declaratory judgment that the officers violated the rights of the teenagers.
This story was originally published June 16, 2020 at 7:29 AM.
