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A mother and her two daughters were recently awarded nearly $10 million in a lawsuit they filed against the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.
The Black women were detained and harassed by police officers in the parking lot of a Starbucks in Castro Valley, California, in September 2019.
According to the Sacramento Bee, Aasylei Loggervale, the mother, was driving her two daughters to their respective colleges in California when they stopped at the coffee shop to rest. Two deputies approached their vehicle, claiming that there had been multiple car break-ins in the area. When one of the police officers requested Loggervale’s identification, she refused, stating that as a Black person, she feared for their safety. The deputy insisted that she hand over her driver’s license while Loggervale repeatedly told him she had nothing to do with car thefts.
When Loggervale exited the vehicle to use the bathroom at Starbucks, the deputy informed her that all three of them were being detained. The officers handcuffed the mother and daughters and forcibly placed them into patrol vehicles. The family was held for several minutes, although no reasonable suspicion existed to detain them. They were later released without a ticket or charges against them, but all three had abrasions on their wrists and arms. Along with suffering physical pain, they also suffered “emotional distress, fear (and) embarrassment.”
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The final judgment, a unanimous verdict reached by a California jury in the United States District Court of Northern California, awarded $8.25 million to the mother and daughters. One of the deputies and the county must pay $2.75 million to Aasylei and $2 million to each daughter. The other deputy and the county must pay $750,000 to each of the daughters.
The trial was held over five days, and the jury deliberated for more than 16 hours before deciding to award the family the sum.
Craig Peters, the family’s attorney, said the most significant part of the verdict for the family was the recognition that their rights had been violated.