Family Sues Sonoma Sherrif, Alleging Deputy Used Excessive Force on Teen

A Petaluma family has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging a Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy used excessive force in retaliation against an 18-year-old woman during a confrontation in June.

The complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco alleges Deputy Marcus Holton grabbed Gabbi Lemos in a chokehold from behind by the neck, lifted her off the ground and threw her on the driveway outside her family’s Petaluma home on June 13.

Holton then put his knee in the back of Lemos’ head and grinded her face into the gravel despite her family’s pleas to stop, according to the complaint.

The alleged assault happened after Holton contacted the boyfriend of Lemos’ sister Karli in a parked car with its lights blinking outside the family’s home that night.

The complaint alleges that after speaking to the boyfriend, Holton violently opened the passenger door of the vehicle where Lemos’ sister Karli was sitting.

Gabbi Lemos intervened and protested when Holton allegedly tried to grab Karli and remove her from the vehicle, according to the complaint.

Holton allegedly pushed Gabbi Lemos back, then moved around her mother and sisters who were trying to protect her as she walked back to the house, according to the complaint.

In the assault that followed, Gabbi Lemos suffered black eyes that swelled shut, scrapes and bruises on her face and physical and emotional trauma, according to the complaint.

Lemos was treated at a hospital before she was booked in the Sonoma County jail for resisting arrest and battery on a peace officer, the complaint states.

She was released when her family posted bail, but she required more treatment in an emergency room where a doctor asked if she wanted to report the assault, the complaint states.

Another deputy went to the hospital to take a report of the incident, and Lemos could not eat, sleep or stop crying for days, according to the complaint.

The complaint names Holton, Sheriff Steve Freitas and Sonoma County as defendants and asks for punitive and exemplary damages, attorney’s fees and court costs.

When Lemos appeared in Sonoma County Superior Court on July 6 the District Attorney’s Office said it was not ready to file charges because the incident was still under investigation, Lemos’ Santa Rosa attorney Izaak Schwaiger said this afternoon.

At the next court date on July 31, the prosecution said it was still reviewing video from the deputy’s body camera, and at a Sept. 11 court hearing, the district attorney’s office said it was not filing charges, Schwaiger said.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Brian Staebell said a misdemeanor charge of obstructing, restricting or delaying a police officer was filed against Lemos today in Sonoma County Superior Court.

“We were reviewing the body camera video and reports and statements from the parties,” Staebell said. “We went back and looked at the case again and decided there were viable charges.”

The district attorney’s office decided a couple of weeks ago to file a complaint against Lemos, but delayed doing so until Friday because it was unable to inform Holton about its decision because the deputy was away from his office, Staebell said.

Staebell said the delay in filing a complaint is not unusual, and the prosecution has a year to file a complaint on misdemeanor and some felony charges.

“Putting it on the calendar allows a defendant to come back to court without issuing an arrest warrant,” Staebell said.

Lemos is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 14. She faces a year in the Sonoma County jail if she is convicted of the misdemeanor charge, Staebell said.

Schwaiger said filing the criminal complaint against Lemos the day after the civil complaint was filed against the county sheriff’s office and Holton is an example of the District Attorney’s Office’s “textbook, vindictive prosecution.”

“It’s ridiculous, unethical and totally expected,” said Schwaiger, a former Sonoma County deputy district attorney who has filed at least two other civil rights violations complaints alleging excessive force by sheriff’s deputies.

“It’s another example of flying to the aid of the sheriff’s office when it’s in trouble. The D.A. has their back. If you are convicted of resisting arrest you can’t sue. It’s an unethical and vindictive process,” Schwaiger said.

--Bay City News Service, photo via Shutterstock