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DENVER — A woman who called 911 during an argument with her boyfriend has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Denver Police Department, claiming that officers inappropriately searched her home and then beat and arrested her when she objected to the search.

In the suit, Patricia Lucero claims DPD officers Marika Putnam and Kenneth Starbuck slammed her into walls and an elevator door while applying a painful joint lock using a police-issue nunchaku.

“Putnam transparently casted blame on Ms. Lucero for stumbling into the wall and elevator door, despite the fact that Officer Putnam had control over Ms. Lucero’s movement by using a nunchuck that she had used to bind Ms. Lucero’s arm,” the suit alleges. “Officer Putnam also unreasonably denied that she used force on Ms. Lucero at any time during the incident.”

A department spokesman said DPD is aware of the lawsuit, noting that an Internal Affairs investigation already found that the officers used appropriate force in the incident. The department declined further comment.

The confrontation occurred on Dec. 28, 2013, when officers responded to a hang-up 911 call Lucero made while arguing with her boyfriend Nickie Penaflor outside of her apartment. Penaflor was arrested on an outstanding warrant, according to the suit.

Officer Putnam then entered and began searching Lucero’s apartment “without justification,” according to the suit. When Lucero yelled at the officer, saying she was violating her rights, Putnam threw her to the ground and applied an agonizing hold using her nunchaku, the suit alleges.

The officers then arrested Lucero, slamming her twice into walls and once into an elevator door, the suit claims.

The lawsuit further alleges that DPD failed to discipline Putnam for past violations of police procedure, even though an Independent Monitor recommended she be punished over a previous complaint.

Putnam did undergo additional training after the incident involving Lucero, according to the Denver Post.

Lucero is seeking compensatory and punitive damages “for physical and emotional harm, loss of liberty, dignitary suffering, and economic damages resulting from the misuses of authority.”

Earlier this month, the Denver Sheriff’s Department paid a record $3.25 million settlement to Jamal Hunter, a jail inmate who claimed he was tortured and beaten while in police custody.