Retired nurse handcuffed while recording Sacramento neighbor’s arrest settles lawsuit

A retired nurse who says he was detained and handcuffed by Sacramento sheriff’s deputies for recording them on video after they tackled a neighbor and held him as he screamed “I can’t breathe” has agreed to settle his federal civil rights lawsuit against Sheriff Scott Jones.

Orlando Truitt, a 66-year-old Black man, has agreed to settle the suit he filed last October for a payment of $50,000 from Sacramento County, but his lawyer says he would have settled for much less.

“He would have settled for an apology and some sort of discipline for the deputy early on, but it just doesn’t work that way,” Sacramento civil rights attorney Mark Merin said Monday.

Instead, both sides agreed to settle the case without any admission of wrongdoing by deputies, Merin said.

“This was such a clear-cut case, on video, and it was a fairly early settlement, which pretty much indicates they had no defense and this was just absolutely wrong,” Merin said.

The sheriff’s office referred a request for comment Monday to the county, which did not immediately respond. Court papers filed Friday indicate both sides agreed to having the suit dismissed.

The suit stems from an incident in February 2020, when Truitt was walking toward a North Highlands market and said he saw a sheriff’s car pull up near a neighbor carrying bags of Chinese takeout and order him to stop.

Truitt said that within minutes his neighbor had been tackled and five or six deputies were on top of him.

“I’m gonna die,” the man on the ground began to yell. “I can’t breathe. I’m dying. Help me.”

Truitt pulled out his cell phone and began taking video of the incident until Deputy Kyle Zimmerman walked over and asked to see the recording “for investigation purposes and stuff like that,” the lawsuit says.

Truitt refused, and also declined to offer his name when the deputy asked, leading to Zimmerman telling Truitt he was standing in the roadway and could be detained, according to the lawsuit.

Truitt stepped back onto a sidewalk, but that did not resolve the situation, the suit says.

“Okay. Then you’re gonna get searched,” Zimmerman says, according to the suit. “I’m gonna search for an ID.”

“You don’t have a reason to search me,” Truitt says.

“I actually do,” Zimmerman responds, adding, “You were in the roadway...”

The suit says Zimmerman asked for another deputy’s to help search Truitt — who insists, “Don’t touch me” — as Zimmerman tells the other deputy to take Truitt’s phone and the recording ends.

Truitt said he ended up handcuffed for the first time in his life, was searched, had his cell phone taken and was subjected to a background check before he was released.

His lawsuit alleged unreasonable search and seizure, prolonged detention, excessive force and other violations.

This story was originally published March 22, 2021 at 10:17 AM.