27 December 2022, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Wieck: Christopher Walther, auctioneer, shows his auction hammer at the National Park Center Darßer Arche during the preview for the New Year's Auction on 01.01.2023. Focal points of the auction are paintings of the artist villages Ahrenshoop, Hiddensee and Schwaan, especially by female painters. 128 paintings and two sculptures come "under the hammer". Photo: Bernd Wüstneck/dpa (Photo by Bernd Wüstneck/picture alliance via Getty Images)
A Black family has been awarded $8.25 million in damages after they were pulled from their car back at a Bay Area Starbucks back in 2019 by two white police officers who accused them of car theft.
The three women, a mother, and her two daughters claim they were singled out for their race, according to court documents.
Las Vegas-native Aasylei Loggervale and her daughters Aaottae, then 17, and 19-year-old Aasylei Hardege-Loggervale were ultimately awarded the significant sum thanks to California’s Bane Act, which allows any monetary damages awarded to be tripled as long as lawyers can prove that a person’s civil rights have been violated.
Loggervale and her daughters were traveling in the area when Alameda County sheriff’s deputies detained and handcuffed them in connection with a string of auto thefts, according to their federal lawsuit.
Earlier this month, jurors found in favor of the family and set damages at $2.75 million per plaintiff.
“This is vindication and validation for the Loggervales that they’ve been wronged, and that means a lot,” their attorney Craig Peters said Thursday.
The officers, who are white, reportedly told them they were under investigation for “car burglaries committed by unidentified Black men” in recent months, the plaintiffs said.
While Loggervale did refuse to show her driver’s license, she said she clearly told the deputies that “that they had not done anything wrong and had no connection whatsoever to any auto burglaries,” according to their civil complaint.
Loggervale and her daughters were all handcuffed as officers searched the car, their purses and cellphones.
They were ultimately released from police custody without any citations or criminal charges, NBC News reports.
A federal jury sided with the plaintiffs and found that the officers as well as Alameda County violated their constitutional rights while breaching state civil protections against police harassment.
Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez told the outlet that the community’s trust is “foundational my mission of maintaining a positive relationship with those we serve.”
“The community’s trust in my agency is foundational to my mission of maintaining a positive relationship with those we serve,” Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez said in a statement Thursday.
Sanchez added: “the facts of this case are extremely important to me and our community members, however, I must reserve my comments until the case has been fully adjudicated through the court system.”
Meanwhile, Alameda County has until the end of March to file an appeal, however on Thursday Peters said that defense attorneys have not indicated whether they plan to do so.
