Woman injured during jaywalking arrest sues San Francisco
San Francisco Police Department Officer Josh McFall pushes Christiana Porter against a wall on July 29, 2024.
SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco is facing a civil rights lawsuit after a 34-year-old mother of five who said she was injured by a San Francisco police officer who arrested her for allegedly jaywalking.
According to the federal lawsuit filed Monday morning, Christiana Porter suffered a concussion, separated shoulder, back pain, neck pain and sciatic nerve damage from the July arrest.
Porter also reportedly suffered injuries to her psyche, including a worsening of previous, unspecified domestic violence-related symptoms.
San Francisco police referred all questions to the city attorney's office, which didn't immediately respond on Monday.
Previously, the officer in question told a witness that Porter refused to comply with his orders, including refusing to show identification or to keep her hands out of her pockets or purse, where there potentially could have been a weapon.
The backstory:
According to the lawsuit, Porter was wearing headphones and walking in the area of Geary Boulevard and 2nd Avenue on the night of July 29 after having visited an Office Depot to print out domestic violence materials that she had received from the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.
Porter stepped into the street to cross 2nd Avenue, prompting SFPD Officer Josh McFall to honk at her from his police SUV.
Video footage from the scene showed Porter walking across the street, apparently unaware that McFall was attempting to stop her.
McFall drove his SUV into oncoming traffic on Geary Boulevard and exited the vehicle in order to intercept Porter.
Porter's lawyers said she asked McFall why she was being stopped, but received no answer and was instead questioned about where she was going and what she was doing in the area.
McFall told Porter she was being detained and asked for her identification, according to the lawsuit.
Porter attempted to comply with the order, her lawyers said, and reached into her purse for her identification, but McFall allegedly reached for his firearm and yelled at her to "stop reaching into your bag."
Video from the scene depicts McFall pushing Porter against a nearby wall.
The lawsuit said the momentum and force of the push caused Porter’s shoulder and head to strike the wall.
In cellphone video taken by a bystander, Porter is heard screaming, "I'm not resisting."
Several more police officers eventually arrived at the scene, and Porter was taken into custody.
McFall stayed at the scene following the arrest and told a bystander that Porter refused to comply with his orders to provide identification and to take her hands out of her bag.
"I didn't want it to go this way, but when people put me in that position, I don't have a choice," McFall told the bystander.