Perez v. Vega
| Decision Date | 28 February 2020 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL ACTION NO. 18-0997 |
| Parties | JULIAN PARRILLA PEREZ, CARLA RIVERA CRUZ, and ADY RASHID RODRIGUEZ PEREZ, Plaintiffs, v. POLICE OFFICER VEGA, POLICE OFFICER GINGRASSO, and THE CITY OF READING. Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
Henry S. Perkin, M.J.
Presently before the Court are Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 34) filed November 15, 2019, Defendants' Statement of Material Undisputed Facts in Support of their Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 33) filed November 15, 2019; Plaintiffs' Response in Opposition to Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 38) filed December 6, 2019, and Plaintiffs' Reply to Defendants' Statement of Material Undisputed Facts (ECF No. 38-1) filed December 6, 2019. For the reasons set forth below, the Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED in part and GRANTED in part.
In the early hours of March 20, 2016, at 3:21 a.m., the Reading Police Department dispatched Officer David Vega to address a noise complaint at Plaintiffs' home. (ECF No. 38 at 2.) Earlier that night, Plaintiffs Julian Parilla Perez ("Parilla Perez"), Carla Rivera Cruz ("Rivera Cruz"), and Ady Rashid Rodriquez Perez ("Rodriquez Perez"), were celebrating the birthday of amutual friend at the shared residence of Mr. Parilla Perez and Ms. Rivera Cruz. Id.2 Parilla Perez greeted Officer Vega at the front door and identified himself as the head of the household. Id. at 3. By the time Parilla Perez opened the door to greet Officer Vega, the noise had ceased. Id.
As soon as Parilla Perez opened the door, Officer Vega asked for identification. (ECF No. 38 at 3.) Having recently moved to the Reading area from New York City, Parilla Perez first provided his New York City photo identification. Id. Not being familiar with this form of identification, Officer Vega asked Parilla Perez for a second form of identification. Id. Parilla Perez then provided Officer Vega with a photo identification card from the Sheriff's Department of the County of Onondaga in the State of New York.3 Id. Again, not being familiar with this form of identification, Officer Vega proceeded to ask Parilla Perez for his Social Security number. Id. Parilla Perez provided his Social Security number and a recently issued Pennsylvania photo identification card, however, Officer Vega determined this to be unacceptable as he was unable to verify the Social Security number. Id.4
After Parilla Perez provided his name, date of birth, Social Security number, and three forms of identification, Officer Vega believed he needed to run Parilla Perez through the Reporting Management System ("RMS") and National Crime Information Center ("NCIC") in order to issue a noise citation. (Vega Dep. 55:8-13, 69:11-12, 91:3-12.) While Parilla Perez's identification was being run, Rodriguez Perez and Rivera Cruz came to the door to see what was happening. (ECF No. 38 at 4.) All three Plaintiffs stood in the doorway to the house and spoke with Officer Vega, who was standing on the sidewalk. Id. According to Plaintiffs, Officer Vega told Parilla Perez that none of his forms of identification resulted in an accurate search result and accused Parilla Perez of having provided fake identification. Id.
Officer Vega subsequently asked if anyone else had identification. Rivera Cruz volunteered to provide her identification and advised Officer Vega that she was also the head of the household. (ECF No. 38 at 4.) Rodriquez Perez also offered to provide identification, but,while doing so, questioned Officer Vega's need to see identification, citing her criminal justice classes. Id. In response, Officer Vega threatened to call for backup, and when Rodriquez Perez went into the house to retrieve her identification, Officer Vega called for backup. Id. at 5. At that point, Parilla Perez retreated inside the house, purportedly because he was fearful of the manner in which Officer Vega was talking to Plaintiffs. (Parilla Perez Dep. 31:7-20.)
Officer William Pletcher arrived at residence at approximately 4:32 a.m. and witnessed three Hispanic females exchanging words with Officer Vega. (ECF No. 38-8.) Per Officer Pletcher's incident report, two of the females stood in the doorway yelling while the third female stood at the bottom step near the sidewalk speaking in a normal conversational tone. Id. Officer Vega indicated that the "female wearing the hat," believed to be Rivera Cruz, said that she lived at the house, but Officer Vega could not verify her identification for a noise citation. Id. As a result, Officer Vega told Officer Pletcher that he planned on taking Rivera Cruz into custody for a LiveScan5 and asked Officer Pletcher to assist. Id. Officer Pletcher advised Officer Vega that they should wait for additional officers "due to the amount of people in the house." Id. Officer Vega then called for more officers and Officers Carcheri Gingrasso and Brian Adler arrived shortly thereafter at 4:37 a.m. Id.
The parties dispute the events that led to the arrest of Rivera Cruz. Though there exists video depicting some of the incident, it is not helpful to resolving all of the factual disagreements surrounding her arrest. Plaintiffs claim that Rivera Cruz went into the residence to retrieve her identification and, by the time she had her identification, police officers were already in the house. (ECF No. 38 at 5.) Seeing tasers drawn, Rivera Cruz put her hands in the air and began yelling in Spanish that she was coming out.6 Id. Officer Vega grabbed her by the right arm, pulled her out of the house, put her in handcuffs, and put her in the police car. Id.
Defendants maintain that, because Officer Vega could not allow Rivera Cruz to disappear back into the home, he informed her that he would have to take her into custody to verify her identify. (ECF No. 34 at 2) Officer Vega grabbed Rivera Cruz and, trying to pullaway from his grip, she went back inside the home pulling Officer Vega with her. (ECF No. 34 at 2; ECF No. 33 ¶¶ 18-19.) Officer Vega subsequently took Rivera Cruz out of the house, handcuffed her, and placed her in a car without incident. Id. Plaintiffs argue that Officer Vega's claim that he was pulled into the home is contradicted by Officer Pletcher's account wherein he reported going into the house with Officers Vega, Gingrasso, and Adler after Rivera Cruz was pulled into the home by two other women. (ECF No. 38 at 5 n.9.)
The parties similarly dispute the events that led to the arrest of Rodriguez Perez. According to Plaintiffs, after speaking with Officer Vega, Rodriguez Perez reentered the residence and began walking upstairs to retrieve her identification. (ECF No. 38 at 6.) While upstairs, Rodriguez Perez heard the officers enter the home and went back downstairs. Id. As she descended the staircase, Rodriguez Perez saw police officers "pointing tasers at everyone," which included a taser pointed at her mother by Officer Gingrasso. Id. Rodriguez Perez began to talk with her mother and Officer Gingrasso tried to handcuff her with one hand while pulling her out of the home with the other hand. Id. When Officer Pletcher observed Officer Vega handcuff Rivera Cruz, he told Officer Gingrasso to disengage with Rodriquez Perez. Id. at 7. However, Officer Gingrasso responded that Rodriguez Perez had hit him, and Officer Pletcher assisted Officer Gingrasso in taking Rodriguez Perez out of the residence. Id. Plaintiffs maintain that Rodriguez Perez was injured as a result of the police grabbing and pulling her from her home to the outside. Id.
Defendants claim that, while Officer Gingrasso attempted to move the other individuals away from Officer Vega and Rivera Cruz, Rodriguez Perez shoved him with both hands. (ECF No. 34 at 2; ECF No. 33 ¶ 27.) Officer Gingrasso informed Rodriguez Perez that she was under arrest and grabbed her right wrist. Id. Rodriguez Perez then struck Officer Gignrasso in the chest with her left hand, and, concerned for the officers' safety, Officer Gingrasso drew his taser, pointed it at the group, and told them to step back. (ECF No. 34 at 2; ECF No. 33 ¶¶ 28-29.) Rodriguez subsequently resisted Officer Gingrasso's attempt to take her into custody, and, with the help of Officer Pletcher, she was eventually led outside of the house and handcuffed. (ECF No. 34 at 2; ECF No. 33 ¶¶ 36-37.) Plaintiffs dispute the claim that Rodriguez Perez shoved or hit Officer Gingrasso. (ECF No. 38-1 ¶¶ 27-28.)
While the video of the incident does not capture the entire interaction betweenRodriguez Perez and Defendants, it confirms several details. As the video begins, Officer Gingrasso is shown grabbing Rodriguez Perez by the right arm with his left hand. While he pulls Rodriguez Perez toward the door of the residence, Officer Gingrasso points his taser toward the group of people repeating the command to "back up." As this occurs, Parilla Perez walks outside the home calmly. A woman, later identified as the mother of Rodriguez Perez and Parilla Perez, pulls on the left arm of Rodriguez Perez while Rodriguez Perez repeatedly tells the officers, in Spanish and English, to not touch her. Officer Gingrasso is asked by the, Alex Martinez, the person filming the incident, why he is taking Rodriguez Perez to which he responds, "she hit me." Officer Pletcher then joins Officer Gingrasso to assist in handcuffing Rodriguez Perez, taking her into custody, and placing her in in a car.
As seen in the video, while Officer Gingrasso attempts to arrest Rodriguez Perez, Parilla Perez calmly walks outside the residence. As Parilla Perez sits on his neighbors' steps discussing the situation with another officer, Officer Vega approaches him and informs him that he is "going too" for a LiveScan. Officer Vega grabs Parilla Perez, who is now standing, by the left arm, and handcuffs him. As Alex Martinez and the mother of Parilla...
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