A young couple is suing the Antioch PD, claiming they were victims of excessive force and racial profiling during a violent arrest last year. The lawsuit comes as the department is caught up in a racist texting scandal along with a widening probe by the FBI around possible civil rights abuses and other crimes.
Cell phone video shows the dramatic February 2022 confrontation between the Antioch officers and Juan Laspada and his fiancée Rebecca Rodriguez.
"I had a concussion and stitches in my ear," Laspada said in an interview with KTVU, describing the injuries he sustained in the episode.In a federal lawsuit eerily similar to one filed 20 years ago in Oakland, civil rights attorney John Burris says the police department in Antioch – 35 miles away – is rife with bigotry, racism, lies and unconstitutional force.
"He insisted and kept harassing me and pushing my buttons and try to get me to talk to him," Laspada said of one of the officers who has not been identified. "I had made a comment and told him you look like you’re on steroids and I went to go walk away and when I went to go walk away he grabbed me and slammed me on the ground."
Police took Laspada to the hospital where he says he was released. He said he never heard again from police and no charges were ever filed.Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe addresses calls, racist death threats, and other attacks in the midst of the "Antioch Police Department’s text message scandal.
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