San Rafael police sued over detention of Black driver
A Black driver who was detained during a carjacking investigation in San Rafael has filed a federal lawsuit against four city police officers.
Karl Bracy, a Fairfield resident who works as a mail carrier in Marin, alleges that police violated his civil rights in August when they stopped his car, removed him and gunpoint and handcuffed him during questioning. He was not involved in the crime.
Bracy also alleges excessive force, negligence, assault and battery, as well as intentional infliction of emotional distress. The suit, filed on Wednesday, seeks damages for loss of wages and medical expenses associated with the trauma he experienced from the incident.
Fighting back tears during a press conference Thursday, Bracy said that since the incident he has been living in fear of police, lost sleep and seen a psychiatrist.
“This has been hard on me,” said Bracy, 55, a 21-year postal employee.
When he looked in the rearview mirror and saw police with guns drawn, he said, he wondered “if I’m going to make it out of here.”
“Honestly, all I want is my life back,” he said. “I don’t see how that is going to happen because of this scar that I don’t think will ever go away.”
Attorney John Burris, who is representing Bracy, called the incident egregious, saying that the conduct of the involved officers was intentional, reckless and negligent.
He said that especially in the era of the Black Lives Matter movement propelled by police killings of Black people, the incident caused emotional damage for Bracy.
“Five to eight minutes with a gun pointed at you when you don’t know if any move you make could result in your death, that’s something to be afraid of, to be scared of, particularly and especially as a Black man in America, which he is,” Burris said Thursday.
The San Rafael Police Department declined to comment due to the pending litigation.
City officials deferred requests for comments to City Attorney Rob Epstein.
“We at the city are all very saddened that this incident occurred,” Epstein said Thursday, adding that as a White man, he could never fully imagine or understand what the experience must have been like.
“Our police department, our City Council acknowledged that Mr. Bracy suffered a terrifying experience and it undoubtedly caused an adverse impact on him,” Epstein said.
Epstein said he, city officials, police Chief Diana Bishop and Tom Bertrand, an outside lawyer, thoroughly reviewed the incident, including police-worn body camera footage and dispatch tapes.
“Based on that study that occurred, we firmly conclude that our officers conducted themselves lawfully and they acted within all applicable policies,” he said. “The city and the San Rafael Police Department categorically deny the allegation that Mr. Bracy was selectively stopped given the uncontroverted fact that the officers had no idea of the race, the gender or even the age of the driver prior to making the high-risk traffic stop.”
The incident happened at about 6:15 p.m. Aug. 7, after police received a report of a carjacking in front of the Bret Harte Market at 93 Woodland Drive.
The victim reported that three suspects stole his white Chevrolet Impala and that one of the suspects said he had a gun. He had recently purchased the car and didn’t know the license plate number.
The lawsuit says Bracy, who was driving his white 2007 Chevrolet Malibu, was on his way home after a 10-hour shift when police followed him from a 7-Eleven.
The fact Bracy drove a different model car “should have been enough notice for the officer to say, I don’t think this is the right car,” Burris said.
Bracy was pulled over on southbound Highway 101 near the Interstate 580 intersection. He was detained, put in the back seat of a patrol car and released after further investigation.
The incident prompted an apology and a statement from city officials that officers were following protocol.
The city reached out to Bracy offering a session of restorative justice that would be mediated by a local consultant. Bracy didn’t respond, but Epstein said the offer still stands.
The stolen Chevy Impala was later found abandoned in Vallejo, police said. Police later identified two suspects and arrested them last week.
Daisy Elisabeth Rodriguez, 23, of San Rafael and David Mata Alvarado, 25, of Novato were booked into Marin County Jail on Oct. 21 on suspicion of conspiracy to commit a crime and participation in a street gang.
Rodriguez was also booked on allegations of being an accessory and violation of probation, and Alvarado on suspicion of making threats and carjacking.
The case is under review by the Marin County District Attorney’s Office.
San Rafael police Lt. Dan Fink said a third suspect is still outstanding. The incident is under investigation.