SACRAMENTO - Angel Totton, as guardian of minor child K.T., filed a federal complaint on October 11 in the Eastern District of California against the City of Sacramento and a police officer for excessive force, unlawful seizure, unlawful search, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and indemnification.
According to the complaint, on Oct. 10, 2020, K.T. was exiting a Delta Shores Cinema with his two teenage cousins and walking towards an In-and-Out Burger within the plaza to meet a Lyft driver they called when Officer Lawrence pulled up and turned on his siren.
Lawrence allegedly told the group they had to turn left to get out of Delta Shores, in which K.T. responded that was the group's plan. Lawrence then allegedly exited his car, pulled out his taser, handcuffed K.T., illegally searched him and threw him in the back of his squad car making the comment “even 14-year-olds have guns.”
When asked why he was being detained, Lawrence allegedly told K.T.'s cousin he would cuff them too. Another squad car arrived on scene with more officers and Lawrence and his partner allegedly drove their car to another spot, making comments that K.T. was their first victim of the night and told him he was "the problem." K.T.'s phone rang, and the officers spoke to his mother, who was put on speaker and told K.T. that he would be let go, the suit says. The officers then told the mother that "it's our fault," and after more than 40 minutes of detainment, K.T. was released and issued a Notice of Trespassing violation, the suit says.
Plaintiffs seek compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney's fees and cost of suit. Plaintiffs are represented by Timothy Reed.
U.S. District Court Eastern District of California case number 2:21-cv-01907-JAM-JDP