A Lancaster woman says Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies violated her Constitutional rights when they reportedly entered her home, handcuffed and moved her outside naked, and terrified her younger sister and son. The search was allegedly for the woman’s brother whom she learned later was being arrested at a different location.
“Jane Doe” has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court claiming the deputies were negligent when they conducted an unreasonable search of her home. She said she has suffered emotional distress. She does not want her name or face revealed publicly due to the nature of what happened.
“They tied me up, I was dragged across my grass, keep in mind, I was on my menstrual period,” she told NBC4 News. “I’m completely undressed, on my front yard.”
The woman says she asked her younger sister to begin recording the July 25, 2019 encounter with a cellphone, and the video shows four male deputies inside the home ordering her to walk down a flight of stairs while nude. The woman says she was in the shower when the deputies forced their way inside.
“I’m telling him I’m not dressed and to wait a minute,” she said. The deputy, “said no and opened the door.”
The Sheriff’s Department has not discussed the incident in citing the ongoing lawsuit.
“Due to pending litigation, the Department is unable to comment,” it said in a written statement.
Lawyers for LA County have filed a general answer to the lawsuit in federal court with general denials to each of the woman’s claims.
At the time of the search, the woman says the deputies told her they were searching for her brother, who was wanted in an assault case. Time-stamped Sheriff’s Department booking records show he was being arrested by other deputies in South Los Angeles around the same time deputies forced open the woman’s door in Lancaster.
“They were looking for someone who wasn’t there,” said the woman’s attorney Brian Dunn. He said there was no threat to public safety, and no reason for the deputies to go into the home in the manner they did.
“There was too much aggression and not enough compassion,” Dunn said, adding that no female deputies were sent to the home and the male deputies inappropriately touched, searched, and handled his client while she was naked.
The brother’s arrest was to no avail, according to court records, because the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office declined to file a criminal charge citing a lack of sufficient evidence. “No independent witnesses,” and, “suspect denies,” were listed by the deputy district attorney who rejected the case, according to a charge evaluation worksheet.
The woman’s federal lawsuit accuses the deputies of violating her civil rights, based on an unreasonable search, committing battery, and negligently and intentionally inflicting emotional distress.
“I’m in complete shock that it happened,” the woman said. “I feel as if they should be held accountable for their actions.”
