A federal jury awarded $8.25 million to a Black family who was wrongfully detained by sheriff's deputies at a Northern California Starbucks.
Their federal lawsuit claims that in September 2019, Alameda County sheriff's deputies handcuffed Aasylei Loggervale and her two daughters at a Starbucks in Castro Valley, about 25 miles southeast of downtown San Francisco. They were accused of committing a string of auto thefts.
This month, jurors ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and awarded damages of $2.75 million each.
"This is vindication and validation for the Loggervales that they've been wronged, and that means a lot," Craig Peters, their attorney, said Thursday.
According to the plaintiffs, white deputies told them they were being investigated for "car burglaries committed by unidentified Black men" in recent months.
As reported in their civil complaint, Loggervale and her daughter, who were 19 and 17, "stated that they had not done anything wrong and had no connection whatsoever to any auto burglaries," their civil complaint said.
All three were handcuffed as deputies searched their car, purses and cellphones before they were released with no citations or criminal charges.
In a federal court case in the Northern District of California, a jury found that the deputies and Alameda County violated the constitutional rights of Loggervale and her daughters, Aaottae Loggervale and Aasylei Hardge-Loggervale, and violated the state's civil rights against police harassment.
"The community’s trust in my agency is foundational to my mission of maintaining a positive relationship with those we serve", Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez said in a statement Thursday.
How can we trust in law enforcement officers to protect and serve if they constantly act on their racism and anti-Blackness?
Source: NBC News