Black family awarded $8 million after being detained, handcuffed by police

By Khristopher J. Brooks, CBS News

A California jury awarded a Black mother and her two daughters more than $8 million after local police detained them near a Starbucks.

The incident happened in September 2019 when Nevada mother Aasylei Loggervale was driving her two daughters to California for college. The trio stopped in Castro Valley, California, to rest and were approached by Alameda County sheriff’s deputies, according to court documents. Two deputies told the women they were searching for suspects in a recent rash of car thefts and asked for their identification, a lawsuit filed by the Loggervales against Alameda County alleged.

Loggervale refused to show her ID and was then “forcefully” detained and handcuffed, along with her daughters, after stepping out of her car, the suit alleged. Deputies held the women when the mother tried to walk toward a nearby Starbucks to use the restroom, court documents state.

The Loggervales suffered abrasions on their arms and wrists from the incident, according to their suit. Attorneys for the Loggervales argued that the deputes involved in the incident — Steven Holland and Monica Pope, who are both White — stopped their clients because they are Black. The complaint accused the two of assault, battery, false arrest and violation of constitutional rights, among other charges.

The jury last week unanimously ruled against Holland and Pope, calling their conduct “unlawful.” Holland and Alameda County together must pay $2.75 million to the mother and $2 million to each daughter, while Pope and the county must pay $750,000 to each daughter, the final order shows. 

Read more on the case here.

Read about another police brutality court case here.

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