The Vallejo Police Department faces another claim of civil rights violations and it all centers around set of gold-plated handcuffs.
Jamal Colter described how he claimed police broke into his family’s Vallejo home and ransacked the place back in April. The search warrant they left behind said they were after Lieutenant Jodi Brown’s gold-plated handcuffs.
“They broke into the house. They ransacked everything, toys, dishes in the kitchen, broke stuff, just threw everything around,” he said.
Civil Rights Attorney Melissa Nold says it all stemmed from an interaction two days before the search, involving Jamal’s 22-year-old son Robert Baker.
“They were peerless brand, personalized, inscribed with Jodi Brown’s name and badge number,” she said.
Nold added that Baker was confronted by Brown for no reason as he sat in his car. Nold said that after asking for his ID and learning he didn’t have a drivers license. Brown tried handcuffing her client.
“She grabbed my arm and pulled it out the window and twist and put the handcuffs on,” Baker said.
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Baker added that he was fearing for his life, he drove off and the golden cuffs slipped off onto the street
“When I drove off, I shook my wrist off the window and they fell off,” he said.
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Nold claimed police overstepped their authority and violated Brown and his family’s civil rights. To make matters worse, the family said they were pulled over at gunpoint in San Francisco while driving their son’s car. They said that police seized it, claiming it had been used in a robbery.
Vallejo police declined to comment on the case because of the pending litigation. But they confirmed officers can use their own handcuffs and often order them in various colors including gold.
