Two women sued the city of San Marino Monday, alleging police stopped their car, ordered them out at gunpoint and handcuffed them despite knowing the vehicle did not have the same license plate as a reported stolen car.
Diana Mancillas and her daughter, 21-year-old Gabriana Gutierrez, brought the lawsuit in Pasadena Superior Court against the city and two officers, alleging false arrest and imprisonment, sexual battery, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil rights violations. Gutierrez alleges she was groped during the stop.
The plaintiffs seek unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. A representative for the San Marino city attorney did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
According to the suit, a man called 911 on May 5, 2023 at about 8:55 a.m. to report he was following what he believed to be his stolen 2013 Kia Optima, and he also informed the dispatcher of the car’s license plate number. Although he told the 911 operator the license plate didn’t match his stolen car, he still said he believed it was his vehicle, according to the lawsuit.
Any simple check of the plate number the caller reported would have confirmed the car belonged to Mancillas, who by this time had parked her car, the suit states.
However, the two SMPD officers were sent out anyway and, despite lacking reasonable suspicion or probably cause, pointed guns at the plaintiffs, ordered them out of the car with their hands up and told them to walk backward in front of multiple onlookers, the suit states.
The two women feared for their safety and complied, the suit states. Gutierrez, then 19, was moved to a “less conspicuous area” next to a police vehicle and she was groped on her thighs and on a breast, the suit further alleges.
“The touching was offensive, non-consensual, and caused plaintiff Gabriana extreme humiliation, fear and emotional distress,” according to the suit, which further states that the officers did not check to see if the car matched the stolen vehicle until after the women were handcuffed and their car searched, after which they were released..
“The entire encounter, from the unjustified high-risk stop to the unlawful groping of Gabriana, constituted unreasonable and excessive force under the circumstances,” the suit states, adding that both women continue to suffer emotional distress and humiliation.