Date of Offense
Offense(s)
Supporting Document(s)
Statement
This Incident Alleges:
Abuse of Authority
for falsely making a traffic stop for failure to signal.
Deprivation of Rights
by stopping Mr. Rosales without reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot.
by prolonging a detention to investigate crimes for which the officers lack reasonable suspicion.
by frisking Mr. Rosales without reasonable suspicion that was armed and dangerous.
by searching Mr. Rosales for contraband without a warrant and in the absence of a lawful arrest.
The dashcam footage above was recorded on June 15, 2022. The footage shows a red Ford Mustang is sitting at a red light with its left turn signal blinking. The red light turns green, and the car turns left. Two Alexandria police officers Jim Lewis and Samuel Terrell immediately pull the car over.
Mario Rosales and his girlfriend Gracie Lasyone are falsely told they were pulled over for failing to signal. However, neither officer wrote a citation for failing to signal. Instead, for the next 20 minutes the officers separately interrogate them about drugs, probing for crimes that they have no cause to investigate.
Mario and Gracie left with citations that were later dropped by the government, they also experienced multiple violations of their basic civil rights.
November 1, 2022, they filed a federal lawsuit against the two officers and the city of Alexandria under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 Civil Rights Act for Deprivation of Rights.
The US Citizen Reporters are a group of public and private defense advocates that scour the internet for documented incidents of police misconduct that have eluded accountability.