Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Facing Lawsuit After Violent Traffic Stop
Andre Olivas, from Buffalo, New York, is suing the Los Angeles Country Sheriff’s Department, after video footage revealed authorites holding the man down and beating him in the head during a traffic stop for expired tags in Long Beach, California.
Olivas’ attorney, James DeSimone, documented the unnecessary force lawsuit on his behalf on Wednesday, Dec. 8, expressing to Fox 11 that the deputies’ procedures during the stop went “beyond excessive force.”
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“His explanation to me was, usually in his experience, if there’s an expired license plate or bad license plate, usually the truck is stolen,” Olivas explained. The man stated he told the deputies that he was uninformed that the tags were expired.
Olivia’s, who is a Black male was involved in a violent traffic stop last February. All because the vehicle he rented for work had expired tags. According to YahooNews the man owns his own transport/moving company and was traveling to Southern California to try and grow his business.
Olivas said he gave the officers “the same respect I give my mom.” “For lack of a better word, I’m not trying to dance around anything,” he added.
“After slamming me on the hood of his vehicle, he started to Mace me near my face.” Olivas said, noting that at times he almost lost consciousness. “Oh my God, I’m scared.’ I’m just trying not to do anything to make them think I’m trying to struggle or fight,” he recollected of the event. The man says the incident left him with permanent brain and emotional trauma.
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“I kind of feel like that’s what really escalated it, was me asking to speak to a supervisor,” Olivas expressed. “Everything I wanted to do was comply and give them the information that they need. To be honest, [I was] scared for my life. I didn’t know what was going on because it was without any warning.”