Dixon, Solano County, California, United States, August 6, 2020 – The Solano County Sheriff’s Office released video Monday of an arrest last year in response to an edited version of that arrest released last week by an attorney filing a federal lawsuit against the department.
Nakia Porter
In both videos, body cameras worn by Solano County deputies recorded them pulling guns on Nakia Porter before slamming her to the pavement and handcuffing her along a rural road in the town of Dixon on the night of Aug. 6, 2020.
Porter’s father, Joe Powell, was also placed in handcuffs and briefly detained. Porter’s two daughters, ages 3 and 6, and her 4-year-old niece were in the back seat at the time.
Nakia Porter
In their release Monday, sheriff’s officials said deputies pulled the family over after they noticed two license plates from different states on their SUV.
Sheriff’s officials said both Porter and Powell got out of their vehicle after the traffic stop and when the deputies instructed Porter to get back into the vehicle, she refused.
Nakia Porter (left) and Joe Powell (right)
While being detained, sheriff’s officials said Porter slipped her right hand out of her handcuffs and struck a deputy in the face.
Porter was jailed overnight on suspicion of resisting arrest but was never charged.
Attorney Yasin Almadani
The lawsuit brought by attorney Yasin Almadani accuses the deputies of violating state and federal civil rights statutes by engaging in “unlawful seizure, assault and excessive force.”
Cedric Alexander, a police use-of-force expert, was troubled by the video. He wondered why the deputies seemed to rush to detain Porter and Powell without first taking actions to de-escalate the situation, especially with three young kids in the car.
Cedric Alexander
“What’s concerning here is the use of force,” said Alexander, a former president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. “There needs to be a full investigation conducted outside of the sheriff’s department, preferably by a district attorney’s office.”
Almadani acquired more than 18 minutes of raw footage through a California Public Records Act request, and edited it down to just under 10 minutes before releasing it to the public last week.
The full 18 minutes of body camera footage and the 43 minutes of dash camera footage was released Monday by sheriff’s officials.
Read more here: https://www.facebook.com/SolanoSheriff/posts/2257093334428050
Press conference is here: https://www.facebook.com/cairsacramento/videos/268279524795594
Read more here: https://www.ktvu.com/news/solano-county-sheriff-releases-new-video-from-traffic-stop-that-led-to-federal-lawsuit
Read more here: https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2021/08/24/solano-county-sheriff-releases-videos-of-traffic-stop-that-triggered-federal-lawsuit/
Read more here: https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sheriffs-office-responds-accusations-violent-arrest-dixon/103-67522432-7245-4305-b2d2-c2644c4e22b5
Read more here: https://fox40.com/news/local-news/solano-county-sheriffs-office-releases-full-video-of-violent-arrest-in-dixon/