A Northern California woman, knocked unconscious and arrested by sheriff’s deputies during a family trip, has secured a $17 million settlement from the county.
Nakia Porter’s lawyer confirmed the agreement on Monday, resolving a federal lawsuit that accused Solano County Sheriff’s Office deputies of “unlawful seizure, assault and excessive force.”
The incident unfolded on 6 August 2020, when Porter, her father, and her three young children pulled over on a rural road in Dixon to change drivers.
Ms Porter, who is black, was already outside the vehicle when deputies arrived with flashing lights.
Despite her explanation that they were simply switching places, body camera footage captured officers drawing their weapons before violently slamming her to the pavement and handcuffing her. Her father, Joe Powell, was also briefly detained and handcuffed.
Porter was subsequently jailed overnight on suspicion of resisting arrest, though no charges were ever filed against her. The settlement brings an end to her claims of state and federal civil rights violations.
“What happened to Ms. Porter and her family should never happen in our society,” Porter’s attorney Yasin Almadani said in a news release announcing the settlement.
The Solano County Sheriff’s Department and a spokesperson for the county did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment after business hours on Monday evening.
The lawsuit also accused the deputies of lying on their arrest reports about Porter fighting them and the length of time she was unconscious.
“For those that are listening, I am not resisting,” Porter can be heard saying on the body camera footage. “You are not reading me my rights.”
The deputies then push Porter against the squad car and then to the pavement while trying to handcuff her.
“Put your hands behind your back. Get on your stomach,” one deputy shouts.
Porter alleged the deputies punched her in the head and the stomach, kneeled on her back and pulled her hair. She said she passed out seconds after the deputies closed the handcuffs.
“I think she’s out,” a deputy can be heard saying on the video.
Porter, who is 5-foot-2 (1.6 meters) and 125 pounds (57 kilograms), said she was dragged unconscious to the back of the squad car, where she came to about five minutes later.
“These deputies treated us less than human and left a void we are still struggling to fill,” Porter said in Monday’s news release. “I cannot describe what this type of experience does to a person, but I wish it on no one.”
