Jury trial ordered over arrest at San Francisco skateboarding spectacle

A federal judge allowed key claims to proceed to a jury in a lawsuit from a teenager swept up in a mass arrest during the 2023 Dolores Park "hill bomb."(CN) — A jury will have to decide whether San Francisco police officers had probable cause to arrest a teenager during a 2023 skateboarding event in the city’s Mission District after a federal judge ordered a trial in the excessive force lawsuit.The case stems from the July 8, 2023, Dolores Park “hill bomb” where hundreds of skateboarders gather annually to “bomb” down a steep hill at a high speed and to spectate.Police described the event as a riot and sparked controversy after they encircled the attendees and arrested 117 people, including 83 minors, though none of the arrestees were charged with a crime. The plaintiff, identified as R.P., says he was a bystander at the event who was only there to watch, but was trapped by police who indiscriminately arrested everyone there.In his January 2024 lawsuit, R.P. says his wrists were tightly zip-tied together and he was held for seven hours outside with no bathroom access or chance to contact his parents before his release, which he says violated his Fourth Amendment rights against excessive force and unreasonable search and seizure.U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Cisneros dismissed claims against former Police Chief William Scott and another police officer Wednesday, but left the plaintiff’s core dispute for a jury to decide.“Here, at least some of the potential violations of plaintiff’s rights were sufficiently clearly delineated to guide defendants’ conduct, and to support a potential finding of reckless disregard if they failed to comply with them,” Cisneros ruled. “Officers cannot establish probable cause based on a suspect’s mere proximity to a lawbreaker. To the extent officers make mass rather than individualized determinations of probable cause to arrest, such cause must be based on ‘a reasonable belief that the entire crowd is acting as a unit and therefore all members of the crowd violated the law.’”Claims against other supervising police officers also partially remained, including those against Matt Sullivan, a lieutenant since promoted to captain who helped coordinate the encirclement and arrest of attendees in the area.“The court has little trouble concluding that he was an integral participant,” Cisneros ruled.Captain Thomas Harvey, who ordered the arrests, is also still on the hook.“If a jury finds that Captain Harvey and Lieutenant Sullivan effectuated a mass arrest without reasonable grounds to believe that all arrestees broke the law and without making reasonable efforts to avoid or minimize the likelihood of arresting bystanders, the jury might conclude that they acted with reckless disregard to those rights,” Cisneros wrote.The Dolores Park Hill Bomb attendees were described in court documents as defiant of police, with some lighting fireworks at officers, filming officers and taunting them as they closed in on the crowd.Claims against Officer John Solomon, who the plaintiff claims tightened the zip ties around his wrists too tightly, also remain.“If a jury credits plaintiff’s testimony that his handcuffs were so tight as to cause pain, bruising, and numbness, the jury might infer that Solomon knew or should have known that the handcuffs were too tight and nevertheless failed to intervene by loosening or reapplying them,” the judge wrote.Plaintiff attorney Ty Clarke, of Lawyers for the People, called the ruling a crucial victory for R.P.“It gives R.P. — an innocent 15-year-old minor arrested for being in the wrong place at the wrong time — the opportunity to present his case to a jury of his peers,” he wrote in a statement. “We look forward to proving that the San Francisco Police Department violated R.P.’s constitutional rights by sweeping him up in this unlawful mass arrest.”The teen’s Bane Act claim and negligence claims also survived the ruling. The Bane Act allows plaintiffs to sue the government and others who violate their rights through coercion, threats or intimidation.“Based on these rulings, the case is narrowed — some claims, defenses and defendants are dismissed — and the case will proceed to trial where a jury will resolve the issues that remain,” Cisneros concluded.A spokesperson for the city of San Francisco did not respond to requests for comment.The city is also facing a separate lawsuit brought by a class of minors who were arrested at the event. Cisneros is also overseeing that case, and jury selection for trial is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 16.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads