Photo: Getty Images
A federal jury recently awarded a Black mother and her two daughters an unprecedented $8.25 million after they were unlawfully detained and searched outside a Starbucks in California, per KTVU.
Jurors determined on March 1 that Alameda County sheriff's sergeants Steven Holland and Monica Pope violated the constitutional rights of mother Aasylei Loggervale and her daughters, Aaottae Loggervale and Aasyeli Hardege-Loggvervale based on their skin color.
After a two-day civil trial and 16 hours of deliberation, the jury sided with the Black family and found Alameda County liable for the actions of their then-deputies. Holland was found liable for $2.7 million to the mother and $2 million to each of her daughters. Pope was found liable for $750,000 to both daughters.
On September 19, 2019, Loggervale and her daughters, who were 17 and 19 at the time, stopped at a Starbucks while on their way to drop one of the teens off for a statistics test at a Berkeley community college. As the family was sitting in the rented Cadillac parked in a disabled spot, that's when Holland and Pope approached them.
The deputies told the Loggervales they were investigating car burglaries committed by Black men in the area, and the family assumed they were being warned about the crimes. Then the cops started questioning the mother about parking in the spot, despite her disability placard being visible. When Aasylei Loggervale was asked for her ID, she declined and feared escalation from the cops, according to Craig Peters, the family's attorney.
The deputies claimed the mother struck Holland by opening her driver door, but body camera footage and video taken by the daughters show him pushing Loggervale's door closed when she tried getting out. Things escalated from there as the deputies reportedly detained the mother and daughters, put them in the back of a patrol car, and searched their vehicle.
The family was detained for hours, constantly asking why they were handcuffed and crying for help. They were eventually let go, and no charges were filed, reporters said.
Holland and Pope didn't physically harm the family, but their actions violated the Black women's First, Fourth, and 14th Amendment rights, according to a civil lawsuit. The filing also alleged false arrest, invasion of privacy, and negligence.
An internal affairs investigation found both deputies didn't violate any policies, and they've since been promoted, Peters noted. While the jury sided with his clients, the attorney said the incident will affect the family forever.
"It just shakes your foundation about the place you live in," Peters told reporters. "I hope that they can recover that at some point, but I suspect they won't. I suspect that to some extent for the rest of their life, every time they see police officers, every time they're in a Starbucks parking lot, they're going to remember this."
The Black Information Network is your source for Black News! Get the latest news 24/7 on The Black Information Network. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app or click HERE to tune in live.