Teen sues San Pablo police after officers mistakenly arrest him, put him in chokehold
SAN PABLO, Calif. - A 19-year-old auto worker has filed a federal lawsuit against San Pablo police, alleging officers put him in a chokehold and left their fingerprints on his neck when they wrongly confused him for another suspect.
Luis Montoya-Carranza filed the suit in U.S. District Court said his civil rights were violated and he suffered physical injury and emotional distress stemming from what occurred on Feb. 28.
That's when Montoya-Carranza was out for lunch, taking a customer car from his place of employment at J&M Auto Repair Shop, for a test drive when he heard a San Pablo police car with siren and lights behind him.
WATCH: San Pablo arrest wrong teen
According to his suit, he pulled over to let the police car pass.
But police pulled up behind him and officers exited the car with an assault rifle and pistols, the suit alleges, and they aimed their weapons at Montoya-Carranza, who has never been arrested in his life.
Montoya-Carranza followed orders to get out of the car and put his hands in the air, the suit states. He dropped to his knees. And he started recording on his cell phone to capture what was occurring to him.
On the video, he repeatedly asks what he has done to warrant this detention.
Video captured Officer M. Wong and yet-to-be-identified San Pablo police officers approached the teen from behind and place him in a chokehold and "viciously began choking him and screaming he was resisting – which could not be farther from the truth," according to civil rights attorney Adante Pointer, who filed the suit.
Montoya-Carranza "nearly blacked out and suffered extreme pain and fear," the suit alleges.
In the end, San Pablo police acknowledged that they had the wrong person but that he "matched the description" of the person they were looking for, the suit alleges. Police also threatened to cite him with resisting arrest and refused to apologize for their misconduct, according to the allegations.
In a phone interview on Wednesday, San Pablo Police Lt. Brian Buber said he couldn't say much because of the pending litigation. But he did say that the car Montoya-Carranza was wanted in connection with a shooting in another "outside jurisdiction." However, Buber acknowledged that the person they pulled over was determined "not to be involved."
Pointer said he has requested incident reports and other related documents from the city of San Pablo, but police and the city attorney have not provided any of this information.
Lisa Fernandez is a reporter for KTVU. Email Lisa at lisa.fernandez@foxtv.com or call her at 510-874-0139. Or follow her on Twitter @ljfernandez