Mistaken identity turned violent arrest lays ground for lawsuit against Bakersfield police

By Brian Seay

Tatyana Hargrove, 19, says she’s paranoid after a violent arrest in Bakersfield on Father’s Day, in which police mistook her for a black male, and an officer punched her before a K-9 bit her thigh. (Photo: NAACP Bakersfield)
A California teenager plans to file a lawsuit against the city of Bakersfield after an officer punched her in the face and another unleashed a K-9 on her during an arrest that turned out to be a case of mistaken identity earlier this summer.
Tatyana Hargrove, 19, together with her lawyer, announced the claim last week in a nearly half hour press conference detailing the events of June 18.
According to a police report, the officers were looking for a 25 to 30-year-old black male standing at 5 foot 10, and weighing about 170 pounds. He was wearing a white shirt and had a pink backpack, and he’d threatened several people with a machete at a grocery store. Officers were told he had the machete in his backpack.
“Upon my arrival at 1230 hours, I observed the suspect, later identified as (Hargrove), sitting on a black bicycle,” wrote Officer Christopher Moore in the police report. “She was wearing a white short-sleeve shirt, blue jean shorts, and

Source: Guns.com