Parker v. Chard
| Decision Date | 10 February 2014 |
| Docket Number | Civil No. 12–2574 (DWF/TNL). |
| Citation | 998 F.Supp.2d 799 |
| Parties | Alexys Sherry PARKER, Plaintiff, v. Officer Adam CHARD and Officer Robert Illetschko, in their individual and official capacities; and City of Minneapolis, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Zorislav R. Leyderman, Esq., The Law Office of Zorislav R. Leyderman, counsel for Plaintiff.
Timothy S. Skarda, Esq., Minneapolis City Attorney's Office, counsel for Defendants.
This matter is before the Court on a motion for summary judgment brought by Defendants Officer Adam Chard (“Chard”) and Officer Robert Illetschko (“Illetschko”) (together, the “Officers”), and the City of Minneapolis (the “City”) (collectively “Defendants”). (Doc. No. 19.) This matter is also before the Court on a motion for partial summary judgment, for Counts I, II, and III, brought by Plaintiff Alexys Sherry Parker (“Parker” or “Plaintiff”). (Doc. No. 25.) For the reasons set forth below, the Court denies in part and grants in part both motions.
Officers Chard and Illetschko are Minneapolis police officers who have been employed as such since 1998 and 1997, respectively. The Officers are partners who were assigned to the Fifth Precinct for the entirety of their careers. ( Id.) Specifically, on October 26, 2011, the Officers were assigned to the Fifth Precinct's “Uptown middle watch beat,” which is a patrol of the Uptown area in Minneapolis. (Chard Dep. at 12.) The Officers began their shift at the police station where they spoke with the officer from the day shift, Officer Blauert. (Chard Dep. at 25.) Officer Blauert told the Officers that “there were a couple of black females that had just stolen merchandise from Urban Outfitters, which was right next door to Victoria's Secret.” (Illetschko Dep. at 16; see also Chard Dep. at 25–26.) Officer Blauert did not give the Officers additional details. (Illetschko Dep. at 16.) Before the Officers left the station, the desk officer informed them that they had received a call from the Heartbreaker store, near Victoria's Secret, regarding “potential shoplifting suspects in their store” because a witness had informed the Heartbreaker manager that she had “observed a group of black females run from Victoria's Secret.” (Illetschko Dep. at 19; Chard Dep. at 27–30.) The Officers then drove from the station to Heartbreaker. (Illetschko Dep. at 23.)
While on the way to Heartbreaker, Illetschko called Heartbreaker and spoke to the manager who told him that “a witness came up to her and pointed out several black females who were inside of Heartbreaker[ ],” and that the witness suspected them of shoplifting at Victoria's Secret. (Illetschko Dep. at 23–24; Chard Dep. at 32.) Illetschko then called Victoria's Secret and asked if black females had run from Victoria's Secret; the staff member stated that black females were seen running from Victoria's Secret “very recently” but they “couldn't verify” that anything had been stolen. (Illetschko Dep. at 27–29.)
Once at Heartbreaker, the Officers spoke with “Danielle” who told the Officers that a “customer” had told Dortheo Johnson (“Johnson”), another Heartbreaker employee, that she suspected a group of black females who were in Heartbreaker of running out of Victoria's Secret and the customer found the running suspicious and indicative of shoplifting. (Illetschko Dep. at 30–34, 36–37; Chard Dep. at 45–46.) The customer was not identified, was not present, and did not speak directly with or call the police. (Illetschko Dep. at 34–36.) Danielle had called the police, but neither Danielle nor Johnson had personally observed the running black females or Parker and her friends involved in any suspicious behavior. (Illetschko Dep. at 31–32, 37.) The Officers state that they personally did not observe suspicious behavior by Parker and her friends as they left Heartbreaker. (Chard Dep. at 59; Illetschko Dep. 39–41.)
Around this same time, on October 26, 2011, Parker was in Uptown with her two female college roommates, Rahel Theodros (“Theodros”) and Octavia Cheatom (“Cheatom”). (Doc. No. 32, Leyderman Aff. ¶ 4, Ex. 3 (“Parker Dep.”) at 10–12.) They arrived in Uptown around 3:40 p.m., for shopping, and parked Parker's car at a meter. (Parker Dep. at 12–13.) They split up briefly to go to their respective banks, and then met at the store Ragstock within fifteen minutes, where they stayed for approximately forty minutes. (Parker Dep. at 13–14.) Parker then went to the Heartbreaker store while her friends paid for their merchandise at Ragstock; they joined Parker at Heartbreaker approximately ten minutes later. (Parker Dep. at 14.) Parker states that while she was in Heartbreaker, she heard two employees speaking about the police being in the area to address a shoplifting incident. ( Id.) She heard that there had been an incident at Urban Outfitters earlier. ( Id.) While Plaintiff was in Heartbreaker, she observed a police officer speaking with the Heartbreaker store manager. (Parker Dep. at 15–16.) Parker and her friends paid for their merchandise and eventually left Heartbreaker and went to Parker's car; the car was approximately one block from Victoria's Secret. (Chard Dep. at 64; Parker Dep. at 15.)
As Parker began to pull out of her parking spot, Chard stopped Parker and her friends by pulling his squad car in front of Parker's car and turning on the lights. (Parker Dep. at 20–21; Chard Dep. at 65–66.) According to records, Chard ran the registration of Parker's plates when he initiated the stop at 5:34:58 p.m. (Chard Dep. at 64.) Chard then exited his squad car and walked to Parker's window. (Parker Dep. at 21; Chard Dep. at 64, 67.) Parker rolled down her window and Chard informed Parker and her friends that he was investigating potential shoplifting and that they had been identified as shoplifters at Victoria's Secret. (Parker Dep. at 21; Chard Dep. at 68–69.) Parker and her friends stated that they had not been at Victoria's Secret. (Parker Dep. at 21; Chard Dep. at 69–70.) The Officers had not viewed video footage from Victoria's Secret prior to stopping Parker and her friends. (Parker Dep. at 21.) Chard then asked for permission to search Parker and her friends' shopping bags; they consented and he searched the bags. (Parker Dep. at 22; Chard Dep. at 75.) At some point during the encounter, Illetschko approached the passenger side of the car and spoke to Theodros who was in the passenger seat. (Parker Dep. at 23; Chard Dep. at 64.) The Officers did not find merchandise in Parker's or her friends' bags and agreed that Parker and her friends were not the shoplifters. ( See Parker Dep. At 22; see also Chart Dep. at 71–75.)
Parker alleges that during the conversation with Chard, he stated that “unfortunately ... [i]f people like yourself come to this area, you're going to be subjected to things like this,” and then said that he was referring to minorities. (Parker Dep. at 22.)
After initially talking with Parker, Chard requested Parker's identification. (Parker Dep. at 24; Chard Dep. at 71–72.) The Officers allege that police officers typically identify suspects during any investigative stop. (Chard Dep. at 72.) Chard then ran Parker's driver's license number at 5:39:10 p.m. (Chard Dep. at 39.) Chard returned to Parker's car and told her that she was “free to leave.” (Chard Dep. at 71, 80.) While Chard was running Parker's information, she called her father (“Mr. Parker”). (Parker Dep. 24–26.) When Chard returned to the car, Parker relayed a number of questions to the Officers from Mr. Parker who was on the phone. (Chard Dep. at 81–83.) There is a dispute between the parties as to the total amount of time that Parker was detained and not free to leave: Chard states that Parker was detained and not free to leave for approximately four minutes, (Chard Dep. at 72), Illetschko states that Parker was detained and not free to leave for between 5–10 minutes (Illetschko Dep. at 49), and Parker alleges the stop was approximately 20–30 minutes (Parker Dep. at 35).
At the end of the encounter, Illetschko informed Parker that her meter had run out, but did not issue a ticket at this time. (Parker Dep. at 25; Illetschko Dep. at 63.) The Officers did not file a report on the incident. (Chard Dep. at 84.) According to the Officers, they do not file reports on investigative stops. ( Id.) The Officers left and went to Victoria's Secret. (Chard Dep. at 86–87.) Ultimately, the store video from Victoria's Secret showed the actual suspects put merchandise into their handbags and leave without paying, resulting in approximately $1,000 worth of losses. (Illetschko Dep. at 65.)
After the Officers left, Parker called her parents, and then waited for them to arrive. (Parker Dep. at 26.) They arrived within ten minutes. ( Id.) Parker, her roommates, and her parents then went to Victoria's Secret. (Parker Dep. at 26–27.) Parker and her parents spoke with staff at Victoria's Secret who informed them that no theft had been reported for that day, but that there had been a theft reported the previous day. ( Id.) While Parker's group was at Victoria's Secret, the store manager asked the Officers, who were also at Victoria's Secret following up on the possible shoplifting, to speak to Mr. Parker. ( Id.; Chard Dep. 86–87.) At this time, Mr. Parker discussed racial profiling with the Officers in the store. (Chard Dep. at 88; Parker Dep. at 30–32.) The parties then moved the conversation outside after a heated exchange. ( Id.) The total conversation was approximately 10 minutes and Parker recorded the conversation. (Parker Dep. at 30–32.)
Parker testifies that during the incident she was scared and confused and was crying. (Parker Dep. at 24, 34....
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