Thread: GA: Lawsuit against Cobb police alleges racial profiling

Lawsuit against Cobb police alleges racial profiling

By Andria Simmons
August 23, 2010

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A 23-year-old Latino man has filed a lawsuit against the Cobb County Police Department claiming that two officers stopped him without cause, beat him and then jailed him on a pretext in an effort to get him deported.

Cobb police spokesman Officer Joseph Hernandez said the agency had not been served with a copy of the lawsuit and could not comment about it. However, a police report contradicts the man's account.

The civil rights lawsuit filed in federal district court in Atlanta alleges that Angel Franciso Castro Torres was riding his bike on South Cobb Drive in unincorporated Smyrna on March 26 when he was stopped by Officers Jeremiah M. Lignitz and Brian J. Walraven. The lawsuit says the officers asked to see Castro's identification and inquired about his immigration status. At some point during the stop, the lawsuit alleges, Lignitz also punched Castro, breaking his nose and eye socket.

Castro was arrested on two charges of obstructing a law enforcement officer, which were later dismissed. He was referred to immigration and is out on bond, still in the country, as that case works it way through federal immigration court, according to his lawyers. Neither they nor the authorities would comment on his immigration status.

The police report and arrest warrants paint a different picture of the incident when he was stopped. Officers state that they noticed Castro riding his bicycle because he was wearing unspecified "gang attire." The officers reportedly stopped Castro when he rode his bicycle into the crosswalk in front of them, almost striking their patrol car. They stated that Castro gave his name but was evasive when questioned about his date of birth.

At one point, the police report said, Castro tried to break away from the officers, so that Lignitz grabbed him and pushed him against the patrol car. Lignitz states that he struck Castro with his forearm when Castro tried to reach toward his duty belt to grab his Taser.

Attorneys for Castro deny that he resisted arrest and said there was no cause for the stop.

“Riding a bike while not being white is not a crime," said Castro's attorney, Brian Spears.

The officers missed an early hearing in the case. They also did not appear for a second hearing, for which they were issued a subpoena. In their absence, Cobb County State Court Judge Toby Prodgers granted a motion to dismiss charges against Castro.

Castro is represented by Spears, as well as the Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Immigration Project, two organizations that say their goal is to put an end to a controversial program that has resulted in the deportation of more than 6,500 illegal immigrants from the Cobb County jail. The program, known as 287(g), is a local-federal partnership that trains deputies to identify inmates who are in the country illegally and hand them over to Immigration and Customs Officials. Gwinnett, Hall and Whitfield counties and the Georgia State Patrol also participate in 287(g).

"In truth we are seeking money damages because that's what our system allows people to seek through this type of litigation," said Mary Bauer, the legal director at Southern Poverty Law Center. "But it's clear that our focus is making sure that this doesn't happen to someone else in the future."

Bauer added "what this program allows people to do is trump up charges, on any basis whatsoever, that they can't win on and funnel people into the immigration system."

Asked whether Castro is a legal resident of the United States, Bauer said, "We're not going to discuss whether he's an immigrant at all," adding, "that's not entirely the point."

Castro's attorneys did not make Castro available for comment Monday.


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Civil Rights Suit Filed Against Two Cops
Updated: Monday, 23 Aug 2010, 8:55 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 23 Aug 2010, 8:55 PM EDT

ATLANTA (AP) - A 23-year-old man filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Monday, claiming two Cobb County police officers broke his nose during an unlawful arrest earlier this year.

In the lawsuit, Angel Francisco Castro Torres said officers Jeremiah M. Lignitz and Brian J. Walraven beat him after they stopped him as he was riding his bike in March. In a police report filed that day, the officers said Castro resisted arrest, tried to run away and attempted to grab one of the officer’s stun guns.

Castro was charged with two misdemeanor counts of obstructing an officer, one for trying to run away and the other for trying to grab the stun gun, court documents showed. The charges were dismissed earlier this month because the officers, who were subpoenaed, did not appear before the judge, according to the documents.

Cobb County police on Monday declined to comment on the case, saying they hadn’t seen the lawsuit. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach the two officers were unsuccessful. It was not known whether they had attorneys.

Attorney Sam Brooke with the Southern Poverty Law Center is representing Castro. Brooke said the officers’ claim that Castro was stopped for failing to yield did not make sense. Brooke said Castro was traveling and not available for an interview Monday.

In the lawsuit, Castro said he was riding his bike and passed in front of the officers’ car, which was waiting at a red light on an intersecting road. The officers turned to follow Castro and then stopped him, according to the lawsuit.

The officers asked for his identification, questioned his immigration status and arrested him, the lawsuit said. During the arrest, Castro said the officers assaulted him, breaking bones in his nose and left eye socket.

Castro said in the lawsuit that he did not resist arrest and complied with the officers’ demands.

Brooke would not discuss Castro’s immigration status. Brooke said his client bonded out of jail but is in immigration proceedings after being turned over to immigration officials by the Cobb County jail, which has deputies trained to help enforce federal immigration law.

The officers wrote in the incident report that they stopped Castro because he failed to yield to traffic and almost hit their patrol car. The officers said Castro gave his name when asked but repeatedly refused to give them his date of birth, which they needed to identify him.

The officers said Castro then tried to run away, and when they grabbed him and tried to handcuff him against their car, he tried to grab Lignitz’s stun gun.

“I struck the male with my forearm in the face to make him release his grip on my Taser,â€

He comes here illegally, and has the nerve to sue when he gets arrested. How is this stop racial profiling? He was probably riding his bike like a bat out of hell. He deserved to be stopped, and clearly he is illegal. Any citizen or righful resident whould have proved they were such. Please deport him.