S.F. cop sues Antioch, police in Taser incident ANTIOCH

A San Francisco police inspector has filed a federal civil rights suit against the city of Antioch, saying a police officer shocked her with a Taser during a confrontation in her home where she was trying to evict a tenant.

Inspector Marvetia Lynn Richardson, 41, a 14-year San Francisco police veteran who is now on unpaid leave from her job, said Antioch officers broke down her door last year, stunned her with a Taser and then took her to jail when she demanded to write "Tasered" on a citation for resisting arrest.

Richardson, who is black, said the incident was an outgrowth of Antioch police efforts to enter homes without warrants to harass and drive African American tenants out of federally subsidized housing. Richardson owns her home and did not receive housing assistance.

Antioch police referred to Richardson during the incident as the "alleged homeowner" and "this so-called SFPD lady," the suit said.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, names the city of Antioch, Police Chief James Hyde, Sgt. Thomas Fuhrmann and Officers Santiago Martinez Jr., Jason Vanderpool and Jason Joannides. It seeks unspecified damages for emotional distress, lost wages and medical expenses.

The city has denied any wrongdoing, saying officers acted appropriately while investigating reports of threats of violence against residents at the home.

The incident occurred about midnight June 7, 2007, at Richardson's home on Mokelumne Drive. Richardson had invited two friends over, as well as their children and the children's friends.

A tenant, Bridget Reed, called police to complain about the noise. Reed had been served with a 30-day eviction notice a week earlier for failing to pay rent, and earlier that day there had been a dispute involving Reed that prompted Richardson to call the police, the suit said.

Vanderpool and Martinez arrived at the home. Martinez "acted rudely," telling Richardson, "You wish you owned this home," the suit said.

Richardson says she told Martinez that she was a San Francisco police inspector and that he was acting like a security guard. She told the officers to leave and bring a search warrant if they wished to return, the suit said.

The officers left, but while still outside "heard loud noises, screams and what sounded like a struggle or fight coming from the home," the city's attorney, James Fitzgerald, wrote in court documents.

Reed and her daughter apparently told police that they had been threatened by Richardson's guests, including a remark by a teenage girl that someone could be shot, the suit said.

Fuhrmann told Vanderpool, Martinez and Joannides to break down the door after they got no answer, and Martinez stunned Richardson with a Taser for no reason, the suit said.

Richardson refused to sign a citation for resisting arrest and tried to write "Tasered" on it. An officer ripped the citation out of her hand and she was taken to jail, the suit said.

Judge Charles Treat of Contra Costa County Superior Court dismissed the resisting-arrest charge in June, saying the police entry into Richardson's house was illegal.