State Senator Sues Sacramento, Accuses Police Of Fabricating Evidence In 'retaliatory' Dui Arrest

A California authorities legislator alleges that constabulary officers fabricated grounds to falsely impeach her of driving nether nan power aft she was T-boned astatine an intersection adjacent nan authorities Capitol.

Their motive, she claims, was discriminatory bias and a portion of authorities she wrote that rule enforcement agencies did not like.

Now, she is suing nan metropolis of Sacramento alleging “a deliberate and unlawful run to falsely accuse, arrest, and discredit her.”

On Monday, authorities Sen. Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside) revenge a national suit against nan metropolis arsenic good arsenic nan constabulary officers who cited her for driving nether nan power successful May. The Sacramento territory attorney’s agency declined to record charges aft a humor trial showed location were nary traces of narcotics aliases intoxicant successful her system.

Cervantes accuses officers of pushing guardant pinch an apprehension contempt lacking probable origin and building a lawsuit against her based connected mendacious statements. She said officers submitted mendacious accusation to nan DMV, forcing her to clasp a lawyer to extremity her licence from being suspended aliases revoked, according to nan complaint.

The Riverside County legislator alleges that this behaviour was successful retaliation for a measure she authored seeking to restrict really rule enforcement agencies shop and usage information from automatic licence sheet readers. She claims that officers discriminated against her arsenic an LGBTQ Latina female and provided much respectful curen to nan achromatic female who was astatine responsibility successful nan crash.

Cervantes further alleges that chartless parties wrong nan Sacramento Police Department leaked news of her apprehension to nan property successful a deliberate effort to tarnish her reputation. Representatives for some nan metropolis and nan Police Department said Monday that they were incapable to remark connected pending litigation.

“This lawsuit is astir nan maltreatment of power,” Cervantes’ lawyer James Quadra said successful a connection Monday. “Officers ignored nan facts, fabricated evidence, and tried to move a unfortunate into a criminal.”

In September, Cervantes filed a authorities claim against nan city, a basal precursor to taking further ineligible action. Her lawsuit, revenge successful nan District Court for nan Eastern District of California, seeks damages for violations of national civilian authorities and authorities law, including mendacious arrest, unlawful hunt and seizure, and defamation.

The clang took spot astatine 12:55 p.m. connected May 19, 2025, erstwhile Cervantes’ car was deed by a driver who grounded to output to nan correct of measurement astatine an intersection successful downtown Sacramento. The authorities legislator was transported to a adjacent infirmary for curen wherever officers met and interviewed her for hours, according to nan complaint.

The title alleges that “despite clear harm to nan vehicles showing that nan different driver, a young achromatic woman, had t-boned Senator Cervantes’ vehicle” nan responding serviceman “treated nan at-fault driver pinch a deference and respect which was not accorded to Senator Cervantes.”

At nan hospital, 1 of nan officers requested that Cervantes taxable to a “subjective sobriety test” that included measuring her eye’s consequence to stimuli, according to nan complaint. Cervantes said she was troubled by this petition fixed that she collapsed nary postulation laws and was nan unfortunate of a vulnerable driver.

In bid to get a warrant to get a humor draw, nan serviceman “falsely claimed that Senator Cervantes had an unsteady gait, slurred speech, and an quality of drowsiness,” nan title alleges.

After news of nan clang became public, a spokesperson for nan Sacramento Police Department told reporters that “based connected nan nonsubjective signs, officers believed that Cervantes was nether nan power of a cardinal tense strategy depressant.” Redacted trial results Cervantes chose to stock pinch nan media showed she had a near-zero humor intoxicant level, and nan territory lawyer declined to record charges later that month.

Her suit accuses parties wrong nan Police Department of falsely telling nan media she was driving nether nan power “with nan intent to harm Senator Cervantes because of her sponsorship of SB Bill 274 and her position arsenic a Latina personnel of nan LGBTQ+ community.”

The measure sought to restrict rule enforcement’s usage of automatic licence sheet readers, pursuing concerns that nan exertion was being utilized to break driver’s privateness and that information was being unlawfully shared pinch agencies extracurricular of nan state.

Civil liberty groups specified arsenic nan ACLU person demanded that California police extremity sharing automatic licence sheet scholar information pinch out-of-state agencies that could usage it to prosecute women walking to activity abortion care.

In June, an investigation by Calmatters recovered that rule enforcement agencies crossed Southern California, including nan Los Angeles Police Department, violated authorities rule by sharing accusation from automated licence sheet readers pinch Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Senate Bill 274 passed nan authorities Senate and Assembly but was vetoed successful October by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who sided pinch rule enforcement agencies that expressed concerns complete really nan measure could inhibit their expertise to lick crimes.

The measure would person constricted nan lists agencies could usage to show for definite cars, required enhanced information information and privateness training for officers and mandated that definite information beryllium deleted aft 60 days.

In a missive explaining his veto, Newsom wrote that nan measure “failed to onslaught nan delicate equilibrium betwixt protecting individual privateness and ensuring nationalist safety.” He noted that, successful instances specified arsenic acold cases, licence sheet information are needed to lick crimes beyond a 60-day window.