SACRAMENTO – A Stockton woman alleges her constitutional rights were violated when a police officer asked her to remain seated.
Maddy Witt filed a complaint on June 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California against the city of Stockton and Police Officer Celentano alleging violation of the 14th and Fourth Amendments, negligence and false imprisonment.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff, then 69, was at her sister's home on Sept. 10, 2017, when Celentano arrived with the plaintiff's brother-in-law's daughter to gather the brother-in-law's personal things. The suit states Celentano ordered the plaintiff to sit in a chair and remain seated under threat of arrest, and she informed him that a pre-existing back injury prevents her from sitting for long periods of time without standing. She alleges she had to remain seated for two hours and was in severe pain.
The plaintiff alleges the defendants breached their duty of care not to cause her physical harm.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks compensatory, general and punitive damages; interest, costs; attorneys’ fees; and such other just and proper relief. She is represented by Stanley Goff of Law Offices of Stanley Goff in San Francisco.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California case number 2:18-cv-01804-JAM-KJN