A Pasadena police dashcam video and audio recording released Tuesday appears to contradict allegations made in a federal lawsuit that two officers sexually assaulted a woman and her adult daughter during a 2016 traffic stop.
The lawsuit, filed April 30 in federal court in Los Angeles, alleges that the officers violated the civil rights of Sharaya Brown and her mother, Sharell Thompson, during a traffic stop at Altadena Drive and Foothill Boulevard in Pasadena on May 2, 2016. The lawsuit is asking for damages in excess of $25 million.
The lawsuit alleges that Officer Brendan Thebea ordered Thompson to lift her shirt, forcing her to expose her breasts. The other officer, identified in the lawsuit as “Officer Carey”, allegedly molested Brown during a search. He allegedly used his bare hands to rub between Brown’s legs, in the area of her crotch. Carey also allegedly put his hands in her front and back pockets and reached inside the back of her pants.
“During the course of this ordeal, Officer Carey was hostile and angry and totally intimidated and frightened the mother and daughter,” according to the lawsuit.
The video, which runs a little over 25 minutes, shows Thompson getting out of the car and later lifting her red top. Her waist is visible but not her breasts. The officer next to her does not touch her.
The driver also steps out of the car and places her hands behind her back. One officer, presumably Carey, holds her hands then he searches around her waist area. He then motioned for her to sit on the curb.
Both women spend most of the traffic stop seated on the curb as one officer searched the car, looking in the trunk and under the hood.
Lt. Jason Clawson, spokesman for the Pasadena police department, said the video isn’t edited and that the department only blurred the license plate of the car pulled over. He declined to identify the officers who made the traffic stop.
Clawson said the traffic stop took place before the department issued body cams. The dashcam video captured sound inside the patrol car but not the conversation between the officers and the two women.
The audio recording, which lasts 21 minutes and 18 seconds, is from one of the officers’ personal recorders, according to Clawson.
Detectives had followed the car because they believed it had evidence, according to Clawson. He didn’t know details about the investigation but said nothing was found in the car. When the car ran a stop sign at Villa Street in Pasadena, patrol officers pulled it over.
He said the women weren’t given a ticket and weren’t arrested,
The city has called the federal lawsuit baseless and the allegations unfounded. The officers acted appropriately, remained professional, conducted appropriate and necessary searches like a check of the waist-band for weapon and a search of the car, according to a statement the city issued on Monday.
Lisa Derderian, spokeswoman for the city, said Tuesday that the video was released now because the lawsuit was filed recently. She said the city didn’t know about the lawsuit until recently.
“We are reacting to false allegations,” Derderian said. “The officers actions are professional. They had a kind demeanor when talking to them. We’re fortunate to have the video.”
Dakar Diourbel, who is the lawyer for Brown and Thompson, canceled a press conference planned for Tuesday evening and issued a statement.
He said his clients contend that the video posted to the city’s website is an edited version that does not show the full extent of the officers’ search activity and action.
“Also, corroborating evidence, such as the police unit’s ‘call history’ and any police body-cam footage, has not been produced to date. Furthermore, this version of the video does not contain many of the indications of an authentic police, dash-cam video, such as, time/date stamp, ambient audio, dialogue from the officers, voices of the subjects of the traffic stop, traffic noise, police sirens, etc. Thus, we look forward to viewing a copy of the original police dash-cam video from this encounter,” Diourbel said in the statement.
“For these reasons, we are unsure of the extent to which the video released today was ‘doctored’ to give an appearance of a less intrusive search. However, we look forward to the results of any forensic video analysis which should shed light on these perceived discrepancies.”
In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, Derderian said the attempt by Diourbel to discredit the video is baseless.
“The only modification of video of the incident was the intentional blurring of the license plate number of the vehicle, done only to protect the involved individuals,” Derderian said in the statement. “Because the incident occurred in 2016, it was prior to the implementation of body-worn cameras on Pasadena police officers. The City of Pasadena stands by the truth.”
The officer who did most of the talking on the recording later identified himself to Thompson as Carey. He initially asked Brown if she has anything in her purse that has her name on it. It appeared she did not have her driver license with her.
The recording revealed Thompson questioned the traffic stop and the way officers conducted the search. She told officers she and her daughter have never been in jail.
Carey said he doesn’t like taking people out of their cars unless it’s necessary.
“It’s embarrassing. This is embarrassing. I work in this community, I have two jobs,” Thompson said. Thompson told police she is a school director, a principal at a school in Pasadena. She pointed that her daughter is a full-time college student with a 3.0 GPA.
The recording also captures audio of Carey making small talk with both mother and daughter while the other officer searches the vehicle.