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| California woman knocked unconscious during arrest reaches $17m settlement | California woman knocked unconscious during arrest reaches $17m settlement |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| Nakia Porter was violently arrested by sheriff’s deputies in 2020 after stopping to switch drivers during a family trip | Nakia Porter was violently arrested by sheriff’s deputies in 2020 after stopping to switch drivers during a family trip |
| A woman who was knocked unconscious and arrested by two sheriff’s deputies in northern California after stopping to change drivers during a family trip in 2020 has reached a $17m settlement with the county, her lawyer said on Monday. | A woman who was knocked unconscious and arrested by two sheriff’s deputies in northern California after stopping to change drivers during a family trip in 2020 has reached a $17m settlement with the county, her lawyer said on Monday. |
| Nakia Porter had filed a federal lawsuit accusing the Solano county sheriff’s office deputies violating state and federal civil rights statutes by engaging in “unlawful seizure, assault and excessive force”. | Nakia Porter had filed a federal lawsuit accusing the Solano county sheriff’s office deputies violating state and federal civil rights statutes by engaging in “unlawful seizure, assault and excessive force”. |
| Porter, her father and her three young children were driving home at night on 6 August 2020, when they pulled off the road. Porter, who is Black, was already out of the car when the deputies pulled up with lights flashing and she explained that they were just switching drivers and would be on their way, according to the lawsuit. | Porter, her father and her three young children were driving home at night on 6 August 2020, when they pulled off the road. Porter, who is Black, was already out of the car when the deputies pulled up with lights flashing and she explained that they were just switching drivers and would be on their way, according to the lawsuit. |
| Body cameras worn by the deputies recorded them pulling guns on Porter before slamming her to the pavement while handcuffing her along a rural road in the town of Dixon. Her father, Joe Powell, was also placed in handcuffs and briefly detained. | Body cameras worn by the deputies recorded them pulling guns on Porter before slamming her to the pavement while handcuffing her along a rural road in the town of Dixon. Her father, Joe Powell, was also placed in handcuffs and briefly detained. |
| “As the officers dragged me away and beat me, all I could think of was my children. I thought I was going to die,” Porter said in a statement. | |
| Porter was jailed overnight on suspicion of resisting arrest, but never charged. | Porter was jailed overnight on suspicion of resisting arrest, but never charged. |
| “What happened to Ms. Porter and her family should never happen in our society,” Porter’s attorney, Yasin Almadani, said in a news release announcing the settlement. | “What happened to Ms. Porter and her family should never happen in our society,” Porter’s attorney, Yasin Almadani, said in a news release announcing the settlement. |
| He called the settlement “one of the largest in California history for a case of this type”. | |
| The Vallejo Sun, an independent news outlet, reported that one of the deputies who arrested Porter and was named in the lawsuit, Lisa McDowell, had since been promoted to sergeant. | |
| Another officer, Dalton McCampbell, was named as defendant in a previous excessive force lawsuit, which settled for $14,700, the Vallejo Sun reported. | |
| McCampbell subsequently shot and killed a man in Fairfield in 2023, the Vallejo Sun reported. | |
| The Solano county sheriff’s department and a spokesperson for the county did not immediately respond to emailed request for comment on the settlement and the current status of the deputies within the department.. | |
| The lawsuit had accused the deputies of lying on their arrest reports about Porter fighting them and the length of time she was unconscious. | |
| “For those that are listening, I am not resisting,” Porter can be heard saying on the body camera footage. “You are not reading me my rights.” | “For those that are listening, I am not resisting,” Porter can be heard saying on the body camera footage. “You are not reading me my rights.” |
| The deputies then pushed Porter against the squad car and then to the pavement while trying to handcuff her. | The deputies then pushed Porter against the squad car and then to the pavement while trying to handcuff her. |
| “Put your hands behind your back. Get on your stomach,” one deputy shouts. | “Put your hands behind your back. Get on your stomach,” one deputy shouts. |
| Porter alleged the deputies punched her in the head and the stomach, kneeled on her back and pulled her hair. She said she passed out seconds after the deputies closed the handcuffs. | Porter alleged the deputies punched her in the head and the stomach, kneeled on her back and pulled her hair. She said she passed out seconds after the deputies closed the handcuffs. |
| “I think she’s out,” a deputy can be heard saying on the video. | “I think she’s out,” a deputy can be heard saying on the video. |
| Porter, who is 5ft 2in (1.6 metres) and 125lbs (57kg), said she was dragged unconscious to the back of the squad car, where she came to about five minutes later. | Porter, who is 5ft 2in (1.6 metres) and 125lbs (57kg), said she was dragged unconscious to the back of the squad car, where she came to about five minutes later. |
| “They did not stop with me,” she said in a statement. “They handcuffed my father and terrorized my young children who were left alone in the car.” | |
| “These deputies treated us less than human and left a void we are still struggling to fill,” Porter said in the statement. “I cannot describe what this type of experience does to a person, but I wish it on no one.” |