Black mother and her two teenage daughters get $8.25 MILLION after white Bay Area deputies detained and detained them for an hour on suspicion of being car thieves
- Aasylei Loggervale traveled with her daughters from her home in Las Vegas to California’s Berkeley City College in September 2019 for a math test
- The trio stopped at a Starbucks in Castro Valley and deputies ordered Aasylei, daughters Aaottae, 17, and Aasyeli Hardege-Loggervale, 19, out of their car
- On March 1, a jury awarded the Loggervale family $8.25 million in punitive damages after concluding that the trio’s rights had been violated.
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A black Las Vegas family has been awarded $8.25 million in damages after being pulled from their car at a Starbucks in the Bay Area by two white deputies who were looking for local car thieves.
The three women argued that they were chosen for their race and that they were awarded the substantial amount thanks to California’s Bane Act, which allows any damages awarded to be tripled if lawyers can prove someone’s civil rights have been violated.
Aasylei Loggervale was traveling with her daughters Aaottae, then 17, and 19-year-old Aasylei Hardege-Loggervale in September 2019 when they stopped at the Castro Valley Starbucks.
The trio was on their way to Berkeley City College, where one of the teens was taking a math test. While stopping for coffee and some rest, the family was confronted by two Alameda County deputies and held for an hour on suspicion of auto theft.
The two deputies, Steven Holland and Monica Pope, were both white.
Aasylei Loggervale is pulled from her car outside a Starbucks in Castro Valley, California in September 2019
The deputies told the trio they were looking for suspects in a series of car thefts.
Loggervale refused to give her identification and asked the officer, “What crime have I committed?”
The court documents state: “Loggervale did not want any further contact with defendants because, as a black person, she feared that the encounter could result in serious bodily harm or death to her and/or her daughter.”
She “stated they had done nothing wrong and had no connection whatsoever with car burglaries,” the lawsuit said.
Holland then ordered all three family members to get out of the car and detain them, body camera video shows.
The police officers, who gave no reason for their arrest, handcuffed the family and “forcibly” put them in a patrol car, the lawsuit says.
The family was held for several minutes without a summons or charge.
All three had abrasions to their wrists and arms and suffered “emotional distress, fear (and) shame,” the lawsuit said.
Steven Holland, an Alameda County deputy sheriff, detained the family
Holland was joined by Deputy Monica Pope
The Loggervale family accused deputies of racially profiling them when they detained the trio as they searched for car thieves
The jury ruled that the officer’s conduct was “illegitimate” and that Holland and Alameda County must pay a combined $2.75 million to the mother and $2 million to each daughter, while Pope and the county must pay $750,000 to each daughter , according to the final order.
Craig Peters, one of the attorneys representing the Loggervales, said the family brought the case to bring the deputies to trial.
“This is justification and affirmation for the Loggervales that they have been wronged and that means a lot,” he said.
“It’s quite a private family.
“But they felt what had happened was really wrong, so they were willing to sue and try to hold the sheriff’s office accountable.”
Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez said she could not comment.
“The community’s trust in my agency is fundamental to my mission to maintain positive relationships with those we serve,” she told CBS News in a statement.
“The facts of this case are extremely important to me and our community members, but I must reserve my comments until the case is fully adjudicated by the legal system.”
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