Claim against LAPD alleges woman was injured by a rubber bullet fired near a protest

Claim against LAPD alleges woman was injured by a rubber bullet fired near a protest

by City News Service

LOS ANGELES — A 26-year-old woman filed a $10 million excessive force claim against the city of Los Angeles, alleging that a police officer shot her in the face with a rubber bullet as she sat in her car near a protest against racism and police brutality.

Yasmine Morales of Los Angeles filed the claim Monday, saying she was nearly rendered unconscious by the blow from the rubber bullet.

Morales says she was not taking part in the May 30 demonstration.

A representative for the City Attorney’s Office could not be immediately reached.

Morales’ lawyer, Neama Rahmani, called the Los Angeles Police Department officer’s alleged action “not tactical police work so much as a drive-by shooting, and an example of the problems LAPD officers caused by deploying aggressive tactics that violated their own guidelines.”

Rahmani further said the officer’s decision was “willful officer misconduct” and that the lawman “took deliberate aim and fired while she was driving her car. There’s no defense for that brutality.”

Morales was near The Grove shopping center when an unidentified officer in a patrol vehicle fired a rubber bullet through her open car window, striking her in the forehead, according to Rahmani.

Morales heard no notice or warning from the officer, according to the claim.

Her passenger drove her to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she received 20 stitches and was treated for a fractured cheekbone, traumatic brain injury, bruising and impaired vision, her claim states.

A claim is often a forerunner to a lawsuit.

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