A man is suing the city of Los Angeles, alleging his civil rights were violated when an LAPD officer threatened him and a companion with a gun without provocation in 2024 before the officer called 911 on behalf of himself while claiming to be a crime victim.
Richard John Sanders’ Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit also alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault and battery and false imprisonment. He is asking for unspecified compensatory damages as well as civil penalties. A representative for the City Attorney’s Office did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit brought Friday.
According to Sanders’ suit, he was talking with a friend outside the plaintiff’s apartment near Westchester on May 20, 2024, when an LAPD officer approached the pair and said, “Get the (epithet) out of here, you don’t belong on this street,” the suit alleges.
The suit states the officer’s attitude may have been racially motivated in that both Sanders and his friend are Black.
Sanders and his friend tried to diffuse the situation, but the officer pointed his gun at the heads of Sanders and his companion and, at one point, hit the friend with a closed fist, knocking him to the ground, the suit alleges. When Sanders and his friend tried to flee, the officer chased both around a car while pointing his gun at them, leaving Sanders in “tremendous fear” for his safety and believing both he and his friend could die, the suit further states.
Subsequently, the officer called 911 and falsely told an LAPD dispatcher that someone had committed a criminal threat against the officer himself, causing Sanders to believe he could be falsely framed for a crime, the suit states. Other officers arrived, did an investigation and the officer left in protected custody, the suit additionally states.
Sanders believes he was a victim of racial profiling and contends the events have left him with severe emotional distress, the suit states.