A woman who alleges a Los Angeles Fire Department captain pulled her out of her truck by her hair as she slept in Studio City and derided her in 2021 has reached a settlement with the city.
Stephanie Hernandez’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleged assault and battery, civil rights violations and negligence. On Tuesday, her attorneys filed court papers notifying Judge Wendy Chang that the case was resolved Oct. 1, but no terms were revealed.
According to the suit, at about 5 a.m. May 22, 2021. firefighters responded to a call of a woman sleeping in her truck that was parked on Bluffside Drive. Hernandez had fallen asleep in the truck while waiting for a friend. When the firefighters arrived, a captain awakened Hernandez by yelling and banging on the driver side door, according to the suit.
After Hernandez unlocked the door, the captain opened it, called the plaintiff an obscene name, grabbed her by her left arm and pulled her out of the truck, the suit alleges. The captain, who is white, continued to voice obscenities as well as racial comments at the Latina Hernandez, according to the suit brought in February 2023.
The captain also grabbed Hernandez by her hair with both hands, causing her to lose her balance and suffer a chipped tooth, according to the suit, which further states that one of the other firefighters warned the captain, ”You are going to get yourself into … trouble.”
The other firefighters, seeing that Hernandez was distraught, drove her home and told her that the captain put them in a “bad spot” and that his actions were “inappropriate” and “excessive,” the suit states.
Hernandez suffered both physical and psychological injuries and her left arm was placed in a splint, according to the suit, which also states that she has been diagnosed with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and suffers panic attacks whenever she sees firefighters, fire trucks or police officers, as well as when she hears sirens.