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A California woman has claimed that she was forced out of her home naked by Los Angeles police while on her menstrual period, was assaulted and is now suing.
Last July, the unidentified Jane Doe was in her home when deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lancaster station barged in with rifles and shotguns, NBC4’s I-Team reported. She had just gotten out of the shower but the officers demanded at gunpoint she walk down the stairs in the nude as they searched for her brother.
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It was later revealed that he’d been arrested elsewhere but it was Jane Doe who was treated like a suspected criminal.
“They tied me up, I was dragged across my grass, keep in mind, I was on my menstrual period,” she told NBC4’s I-Team. “I’m completely undressed, on my front yard.”
Jane Doe further explained to Medium how traumatizing the actions of that day were, especially since her younger sister and then 5-year-old child were witness to what occurred. The 24-year-old Black woman stated that guns were pointed at them as well.
“The yelled at me to come downstairs, and I didn’t want to make the officers with the weapons nervous, so I went down the stairs, and once I went down the stairs, it just went left from there,” Jane Doe said.
“They snatched me off the stairs and tried to take my phone out of my hand. I was able to throw my phone to my little sister before they had me in handcuffs.”
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Jane Doe said that it was the most “humiliating” day of her life. The comforter that was loosely wrapped around her body was not secure and she bled on her front porch.
“The officer was barely holding onto it. I could feel the wind coming up under me because I wasn’t dressed. I could just feel all air,” she said.
“By the time I got out the door, he opened my cover and released it so it could drop. When that dropped, I fell to the ground because I didn’t want all these police officers that was [sic] outside — it was a bunch of male police officers — to see me naked.”
Jane Doe claimed her dropping to the floor to cover herself was viewed as resisting arrest. In response, the officers allegedly touched her breasts and other private areas. She also claimed to have been beaten and that her pleas that she couldn’t breathe were ignored.
“An officer had his hand on my head and pulled my hair. I had bald patches from where he pulled my hair out. Another officer used both of his knees on my neck and back — I ended up with two sprained wrists and ankles and my left shoulder was sprained,” she said.
“One officer said, ‘Aw sh*t’ and started giggling when his hands touched my private part and I was like ‘ain’t no aw shit you know exactly what you’re doing.”
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Jane Doe also claimed that her aunt was prevented her from giving her a tampon because it might “conceal evidence.” She was ultimately charged with three counts of resisting arrest. Some of the footage that was taken from that day had been seemingly edited by the officers.
Since the incident a year ago, Jane Doe says she has suffered from PTSD. She retained the services of the Cochran Firm, filing a civil rights lawsuit against the County of Los Angeles. Battery, negligence, unlawful search, and intentional infliction of emotional distress are some of her grievances.
After the lawsuit was filed, the charges against her were dropped.
“They just didn’t care enough to have a female deputy present, and that’s another problem that we have with their approach to this incident,” said attorney Brian Dunn.
Dunn also faulted the police for their “aggression” and not “enough compassion.” In a written notice, the Sheriff’s office said they could not address the matter because it is a pending legal matter.
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