A woman has filed a lawsuit against the City of Santa Fe after she was left covered in bug bites, claiming police cuffed her and held her down in a pile of fire ants during an arrest in 2021.
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According to attorney Randall Kallinen explained during a press conference on Saturday that Taylor Rogers was “stopped by Santa Fe Police for no reason, thrown on the ground right into a bed of fire ants in the middle of the day, and then held there while screaming,” KHOU 11 News reported. Bodycam footage shows a portion of Rodger’s arrest, and she is seen on the ground being handcuffed, screaming for help: “Ants are on my face; ants are getting on my face, please! How can ya’ll do this? Ants are on my face! Please let go!”
Rodgers claimed that the officers did not assist her despite her being unable to brush the ants off herself, and the arrest happened in front of her nine-year-old son, who was sitting in the back seat of her car. Kallinen presented images of his client covered in fire ant bites on her face, neck, chest, and shoulders, stating, “When the police hold you down in a fire ant bed and you’re saying fire ants and screaming, and they keep you there, what is that?”
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In the lawsuit, Rogers named two SFPD officers and said their behavior lacked “empathy and human compassion.” Santa Fe ISD Police Chief Ruben Espinoza explained that he stopped Rodgers because she attempted an illegal turn into a school parking lot. She reportedly became irate, ignored him, and drove toward the back parking lot, prompting another officer to intervene.
“When she [the officer] gave the description of the vehicle, I immediately knew who it was. I approached the intersection and observed Miss Rogers fleeing. She was also passing a vehicle in the grassy area on the right side when I tried to get in front of her to stop. She didn’t put her vehicle in reverse and fled from me.”
Rogers said she was scared when the officers pounded on her vehicle and reportedly pointed a gun at her, leading her to flee because her son was in the car. Espinoza stated that he used his car to stop Rogers, after which SFPD officers pulled her from the vehicle and placed in cuffs. He also shared images of the arrest, noting no visible fire ant beds. He said the bodycam footage. He asserted that the body camera footage presented by Kallinen was misleading and that Rogers was treated with “respect and dignity.”
Espinoza added that Rogers later pleaded guilty to charges related to fleeing from police and Kallinen confirmed she was sentenced to deferred adjudication. The officers involved were found to have acted appropriately. As part of her lawsuit, Rogers seeks disciplinary action against the officers and additional de-escalation training for the department.