How did officer’s mistake in traffic stop cost Modesto nearly $112,000?
A Modesto police officer’s mistake in detaining a motorist at gunpoint in 2018 because she wrongly believed he was driving a stolen car has cost the city nearly $112,000.
The city paid $82,500 to Modesto resident Christian Rangel and paid $29,150 in legal costs defending itself in the federal civil rights lawsuit Rangel’s attorney filed in May 2019 against the city, alleging false arrest and false imprisonment.
The City Council approved the settlement, and the lawsuit was dismissed in October. Modesto admitted no wrongdoing or liability in settling the case. Rangel is responsible for paying his own attorney’s fees. Rangel was represented by attorney Sanjay Schmidt.
Officer Katherine Blum detained Rangel at gunpoint March 28, 2018, after he had pulled into the parking lot of his parents’ McHenry Avenue business, Gladiator Insurance, where he worked. Blum had been following Rangel after getting an alert from LoJack, the stolen vehicle tracking technology.
LoJack consists of a transmitter hidden in a car that emits a signal, which consists of a code, when the owner reports his car has been stolen. An officer is supposed to call dispatch with the code to obtain information about the stolen car, including its license plate number.
The lawsuit states Blum did not do that. Police Chief Galen Carroll said the officer mistook the LoJack code for the Honda Civic’s license plate number. He said he recalls that they were an exact or very close match. He said that the Honda had a dealer’s license plate, which is similar to a LoJack code, added to the confusion.
The lawsuit states that besides working for his parents, Rangel owned a car dealership.
Blum called for back up during her felony traffic stop and several officers responded with lights and sirens. The lawsuit states Rangel was handcuffed, pat searched, placed in a police car, and officers searched his Honda.
Dad tried to help son with police
The lawsuit states Rangel’s father tried to intervene by providing police with the registration showing his son owned the Honda Civic. Police eventually realized the car was not stolen and released Rangel.
“At the scene, MPD officers apologized to Mr. Rangel and his family,” Modesto spokesman Thomas Reeves said in an email. “The best estimate of the time from the initial contact to the release was about 13 minutes.”
Carroll said his department provided more training on LoJack the day after the incident, though he said the technology is not equipped in many of the department’s vehicles. He said it was a one in a million chance that a dealer plate would match or nearly match a LoJack code, though he acknowledged “we made a mistake. She (the officer) should have been better trained.”
Schmidt — Rangel’s attorney — said he understands there are times when officers need to make felony traffic stops with their guns drawn and fellow officers responding to scenes quickly with their lights and sirens on. But he said because these stops are potentially dangerous, including the chance that responding officers will get into an accident, police need to ensure they have legitimate reasons to stop someone.
“We give this power to police officers,” Schmidt said, “and they need it. ... But it should not be taken lightly,” adding officers should ensure they do not needlessly endanger and restrict the liberties of innocent people.
Schmidt said Rangel, whom public records identify as 27 years old, would not comment for this story.
This story was originally published December 18, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
