SANTA MONICA, CA – Two women slashed in the hand by a police officer as he was trying to remove their zip-tie restraints have been awarded $3 million by the city of Santa Monica, said lawyer V. James DeSimone this week.
A complaint filed by Desimone describes their arrest after protesting peacefully near Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica on May 31, 2020. They were taken to an airplane hangar and held overnight in makeshift cells along with other protestors.
The demonstration was held over the murder of George Floyd, who was killed by Minneapolis police on May 25, 2020, just days earlier.
The complaint describes Santa Monica police officers behaving dismissively towards the plaintiffs, mocking one for having a panic attack and refusing to tell them where they were being taken. One of the plaintiffs, Cheyenne Robinson, describes seeing “people urinating themselves without the ability to use restrooms.”
They were held there until the next morning, during which time they were restrained with zip-tie restraints called Flex Cuffs, which the complaint alleges were too tight, causing discomfort and cutting off blood flow to the point of discoloration and numbness.
Robinson was left in these painful restraints for more than eight hours, according to the complaint.
The complaint also alleges plaintiffs were repeatedly ignored by officers while they were in pain caused by the restraints, and that the officers interacted face-to-face with protestors while not wearing masks.
On the morning of June 1, 2020, the plaintiffs and approximately 100 other arrested protestors were bussed to an intersection to be released.
Santa Monica Custody Officer Juan Cortejo took it upon himself to release the arrested protestors, said the complaint, despite not being trained in how to properly remove the Flex Cuffs.
The document states Cortejo broke multiple pairs of scissors while releasing the protestors, and ultimately resorted to using a three-and-a-half-inch knife to cut their restraints. One of the plaintiffs, who wishes to remain nameless, “received severe lacerations” on her hand from a pair of scissors.
The other plaintiff, Robinson, was slashed by officer Cortejo as he “aggressively and forcefully attempted to cut the zip ties” with the knife, states the complaint.
“Ms. Robinson looked at her hand, which had been numb from the zip ties,” the complaint continues, “and saw bone and exposed flesh and blood pouring from the gashes.”
According to the complaint, neither plaintiff received medical attention at the scene. Robinson’s injury required 21 stitches.
“Both women continue to suffer from scarring, pain, and limited mobility in their hands where the wounds occurred,” said DeSimone.
Robinson was awarded $2.75 million while the other plaintiff received $250,000. The city of Santa Monica has also settled a class-action suit for wrongful arrest relating to the May 31, 2020 protest for $2.3 million.
