SACRAMENTO - Ashley Johnson filed a federal complaint on August 24 in the Eastern District of California against the County of El Dorado for unreasonable search and seizure and excessive force, among many other claims.
According to the complaint, on the early morning of October 4, 2020, Ashley Johnson’s friend Camilla Velasquez was visiting her when Velasquez became violent towards Johnson, including kicking and biting her.
Johnson was eventually able to remove Velasquez from her apartment by throwing her belongings out of the apartment, the suit says. After Valesquez went outside to get the belongings, Johnson closed and locked the door.
The downstairs neighbor, Karin Barbaria, called the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department due to all the commotion. Johnson was then booked into the El Dorado County Jail on felony domestic violence charges after deputies contacted Velasquez and obtained her statement.
Upon being put into the jail, deputies yelled that Johnson was taking to long to get undressed, and allegedly threw her down face first onto a cement floor that was covered in various assorted bodily fluids and multiple large piles of human feces. As a result of the aggressive takedown, Johnson had blood coming from her face due to a front left cracked tooth and later had to go to the emergency room once released from jail, the suit says.
Johnson seeks compensatory and punitive damages, interest, cost of suit and attorney's fees. Johnson is represented by Justin L. Ward.
U.S. District Court Eastern District of California case number 2:21-cv-01518-JAM-JDP