Sacramento – A Riverside County Councilman faced accusations of drunk driving following a car crash. However, blood tests cleared her of any wrongdoing, and she initiated a lawsuit against the Sacramento Police Department on Monday, asserting that the officers tarnished her reputation.
After Senator Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside) was involved in an incident with an SUV near the Capitol in May, the Sacramento police interviewed the 37-year-old senator for several hours at Kaiser Permanente Hospital before issuing her a citation for allegedly driving under the influence. Prosecutors ultimately chose not to file charges after determining that the blood tests showed no measurable alcohol or drugs.
In an 11-page document filed Monday, Cervantes claimed the police had retaliated against her, particularly in light of her introduction of a bill aimed at limiting how law enforcement utilizes data from automated license plate readers. This proposal faces opposition from numerous police agencies.
The filing also suggests that police interactions with Cervantes, who is both gay and Latina, differed from their treatment of a white female driver involved in the same incident who ran a stop sign.
“This isn’t just about my experience; it’s about accountability,” Cervantes said in a statement. “Californians should not face wrongful arrests, character attacks, or retaliation based on their identity or beliefs.”
As a newly elected state senator, Cervantes maintains that she hasn’t done anything wrong since the accident. She represents parts of Riverside and San Bernardino counties in the 31st Senate District and serves as chair of the Senate Election Committee.
Cervantes’ attorney, James Quadra, asserted that the Sacramento Police Department aimed to damage the reputations of valuable state Senate members. He characterized the department’s actions as “serious misconduct,” including false arrests and emotional distress violations.
When approached for comment, representatives from the Sacramento Police Department cited the ongoing nature of the case.
Following the crash, the Sacramento Police stated they observed “objective signs of impairment” after interviewing Cervantes. They also requested her to undergo an eye response test, which they claimed was more reliable than the blood test she had requested.
The toxicology results “fully cleared” Cervantes, according to the filed document, but the police department had already disseminated false information alleging that she had been under the influence of drugs while driving.
The submission further mentioned that at one point, an officer had disabled the body camera for around five minutes to answer a phone call, and the department failed to provide footage from another officer who had also responded to the hospital.
