5 Oct 2015
Carlsbad, CA — A Valencia woman has sued the city of Carlsbad and several of its officers over allegations that she was pinned to the ground and punched by police in 2013.
Cindy Hahn said the incident on July 31 – a day she calls the worst one of her life – was caught on cellphone video. The footage Hahn alleges captured her on the ground with one officer on top of her and a second officer repeatedly hitting her in the head. Hahn says her children screamed and watched from the car. She says her son still talks about it.
“The only thing that he’ll talk to me about is, ‘I couldn’t protect you, Mom. I could’ve. I could’ve got him off you. I could have helped you,’ ” she said. Hahn is a mother, wife, and daughter of a retired officer.
She says it all started after she asked a Carlsbad police officer what was going on as he stood in front of a car with its doors open and the vehicle’s alarm blaring.
“And he says, ‘Is this your car?’ And I said, ‘No, sir.’ And he says, ‘Then mind your own [expletive] business,’ ” she said. Stunned, Hahn says she told a man nearby what the officer said and together they decided she should do something about it so she started to take video.
She alleges that the officer continued cursing at her, which led her to call police to report him. She then left. Moments later, Hahn says that same officer pulled her car over she for a seat belt violation she was told.
Within seconds she says she was pinned to the ground. She alleges that things got more violent when backup arrived. She says the memory still haunts her. “I can feel hands on me. It’s the weirdest feeling,” she said
This July, two years later, the San Diego District Attorney dropped felony charges against Hahn for resisting arrest and battery on a peace officer.
Her attorney, Mark Geragos, says the video was all it took. “Never seen a police tactics expert testify that what you need to do is slug a female in the face,” he said. Hahn is now suing the city of Carlsbad and the police officers involved. Geragos says they want the police officers fired and reform at the police department.