PASCO — A Pasco woman has reached a $100,000 settlement with the Pasco Police Department and two of its officers for an incident in 2009 where she claims her rights were violated.
The federal civil lawsuit, filed in May of 2012, accused officers Ryan Flanagan and Zachary Fairley of racial profiling and using excessive force when they detained Maria Davila-Marquez, said a release from the woman’s lawyer.
The officers stopped Davila-Marquez as she walked home from work because they believed she fit the description of a teenage girl who was causing a disturbance in the area, the release said. Davila-Marquez was 30-years-old at the time and did not fit the description provided to police.
The only similarities between Davila-Marquez and the description of the teenager were that both were female and Hispanic, said the woman’s lawyer Vito De la Cruz.
The city manager’s office did not return a message left by the Herald.
The lawsuit claims Davila-Marquez arms were forced behind her back and her face was shoved onto the hood of the hot police car, causing second-degree burns and other injuries.
The woman who originally called police came to where Davila-Marquez was detained and told the officers they had the wrong person, the release said.
Davila-Marquez was eventually released after being charged with hindering a police investigation, the release said. Those charges were later dropped due to lack of evidence.