A Valencia woman has sued the city of Carlsbad and several of its officers over allegations that she was pinned to the ground and punched by police in 2013.
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According to Hahn’s complaint, on July 31, 2013, she and her children were leaving a birthday party when they came upon a vehicle which was unoccupied with its alarm blaring. Hahn is lying on her side, pleading for help before the officer ties her wrists.
She says the officers attacked her after she complained about one of them.
A shocking video captured the brutal beating of a mother in front of her two children after she merely asked an officer a question. He asked Hahn to get out of the vehicle and, within minutes, he had her on the ground, Geragos said.
She was pulled over for failure to wear a seat belt shortly after a previous run-in in which she says an officer cursed at her.
Charges of resisting arrest and battery on a police officer were dropped in July when the San Diego district attorney saw this video, her lawyer, Mark Geragos, reports.
“Later on, we showed the video to the district attorney, who promptly said, ‘your honor, we move to dismiss”.
An eyewitness recorded the violent encounter.
A Newhall mom filed a lawsuit claiming officers in Carlsbad beat her in front of her children.
40-year-old Cindy Hahn is now suing the city of Carlsbad, California, for using excessive force during the arrest.
She began recording the officer on her phone, shocked by his response.
Hahn was never cited for not wearing a seatbelt, according to the lawsuit. I possibly could have enabled you’.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from Carlsbad, a coastal city of 110,000 people north of San Diego, and five police officers. “And but for the happenstance of a passerby who caught it on video, this case would have gone to trial, and if convicted they would have been looking to put her in state prison – which should scare everyone”.
The lawsuit accuses officers at the Carlsbad Police Department of submitting “false and fraudulently prepared” police reports.
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“Because of the ongoing litigation, the City of Carlsbad Police Department is limited in the information it can provide at this time”, the department said in a statement.
