SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ In 2018, Sacramento police arrested a man after saying they saw him throw a gun in a north Sacramento backyard. But just before police arrested the man, an officer on the scene acknowledged he was unsure whether they were taking the right person into custody, according to footage from the officer's body camera.
That man spent more than six weeks in jail before the officer turned in his body camera footage to authorities. Once that recording was filed, charges against the man were dropped.
Now, Anthony Hernandez, 25, is suing the city of Sacramento and three officers for civil rights violations in federal court.
"The Sacramento Police Department is aware of the allegations in the referenced lawsuit," said Sgt. Sabrina Briggs, a police spokeswoman. "The Department takes these types of allegations seriously."
The city of Sacramento declined comment on the lawsuit because the city does not comment on pending litigation, city spokesman Tim Swanson said.
On Sept. 21, 2018, officers saw a social media post showing a juvenile on probation at a gathering at a north Sacramento home, next to people holding guns, the complaint filed Nov. 26 alleges. On body camera footage, officers can be heard saying they were at the house to search the juvenile who was on probation.
When they arrived, an officer can be heard on his body camera saying he saw a man in a white shirt take off running and throw a gun in the yard.
After they found a gun near the fence where they saw the man running, officers walked to a group of people they had handcuffed who were sitting in the yard. One officer can be heard saying to another officer, "(The person who threw the gun and ran) was somebody in white, I can't tell you who it was, though."
An officer then points his flashlight at Hernandez, who was sitting in a white button-down shirt with a group of men and women who were ordered by police to sit in the backyard while officers searched the scene.
"Probably this guy," the officer says.
According to the complaint, the officer speaking was Michael Bradley.
Officers then arrested Hernandez.
"I was sitting right here by the fire the whole time," Hernandez can be heard saying on body camera footage.
An officer responded: "You're the only one in an all white long sleeve, man."
Earlier in the hour-long video, multiple men can be seen in the yard wearing white shirts.
Hernandez was arraigned on a one-count felony complaint of gun possession by a prohibited person, according to court documents. He was a prohibited person because he was previously convicted of a felony.
Police arrested two other men that night on charges of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, court records show.
Hernandez's attorney, Jennifer Mouzis, requested the body camera footage on Oct. 4, 2018, and received it six days later for four officers who were on scene, but not Bradley, the lawsuit said. She did not receive Bradley's footage until Nov. 5, the complaint said. The charge was then dismissed on Nov. 6, court records show.
According to the department's general orders, "generally, employees shall begin downloading all media prior to the end of their shift; however, supervisors may approve other download schedules when appropriate."
In most criminal cases, attorneys are able to get body camera footage within 72 hours, said Steve Baric, who is also an attorney for Hernandez in the case.
"In this age where (the Sacramento Police Department) claims to be transparent and own up to wrongdoing when done by officers, they had evidence of video of wrongdoing and they just failed to take any responsibility," Mouzis said. "That is inconsistent with their statements post-Stephon Clark that they're willing to be transparent and willing to take accountability."
The lawsuit claims unlawful detention, arrest without probable cause, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and other claims.
It alleges the city "failed to act with ordinary care in failing to properly train and supervise their officers with respect to proper procedures on detention and arrest of citizens; the use of force in effectuating arrest and incarceration of plaintiff for 29 days without probable cause."
Police recovered nine firearms and two ounces of cocaine at the house, the complaint said.
The three officers � Bradley, Maxwell Anderson and Christopher Jensen � are still employed by the city, Swanson said. Bradley and Jensen were hired by the department in 2013, and Anderson was hired in 2015, according to city records.
