SACRAMENTO - Francisco Munoz filed a federal complaint on September 17 in the Eastern District of California against the Board of Trustees of the California Stata University, Sacramento State Police Department, Mark Iwasa, Vincent Burton, Douglas Nguyen and Does 1-5 for retaliation, false arrest and excessive force.
According to the complaint, on June 4, 2021, Munoz was participating in a bike “ride-out” memorial attended by a large group of young people to celebrate the life of a recently deceased young bike rider that stopped at at the California State University, Sacramento campus to refill water bottles and to drink from the public water fountain.
One of the bike riders put a folding plastic sign on the bottom step of a staircase and rode up the stairs. A police officer allegedly grabbed the young bike rider and began subjecting him to unnecessary and abusive excessive force, twisting his arms behind his back and attempting to force him to the ground, the suit says.
Munoz began to video-record the police abuse from a respectful distance using his cell phone, he says. Burton then allegedly tried to slap the cell phone out of Munoz's hand and grabbed his neck, cutting off blood circulation to his brain and making him feel faint, the suit says.
Burton also grabbed Munoz's left wrist, then Nguyen grabbed Munoz's right wrist, pulling and twisting his arm in a different direction, causing severe pain, the suit says. Munoz was able to get away and fled on foot but was chased by the officers armed with tasers, he says.
The officers shot their tasers into Munoz's back and Munoz fell to the ground. Burton allegedly put his knee into Munoz back, put his arms and hands behind his back and arrested him. Munoz was held on $50,000 bail and was seen at Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with bleeding in the brain, hemorrhage, and sprained and bruised wrists, the suit says.
Munoz is represented by Mark E. Merin.
U.S. District Court Eastern District of California case number 2:21-cv-01692-MCE-CKD