Black woman files lawsuit after Delaware officers blocked her car, dragged her out before figuring out she wasn’t the person they were looking for
A Black woman files lawsuit against the Delaware Division of state police was blockaded and held at gunpoint by plainclothes officers last month until they realized she was not the suspect they were looking for.
The lawsuit filed on July 14 in U.S. District Court, Martiayna Watson was the victim of “assault and battery, use of excessive force, and has suffered “extreme emotional suffering” as a result of the ordeal.
On June 24, the 20-year-old was leaving a gas station in Wilmington, Delaware, when officers were looking for a Black male and female suspect in a dark gray Nissan Maxima. Watson who’s 4 feet 10 and was driving a light gray Nissan Altima. The officers were in unmarked vehicles and plainclothes. Watson noticed a vehicle, referred to as “Vehicle 1” in the lawsuit, following her slowly.
“Suddenly and without warning, Vehicle 1 cut off Plaintiff’s vehicle by aggressively swerving in front of her, blocking her lane of travel,” according to Atlanta Black Star. “Vehicle 1 then stopped and reversed directly into the front of Plaintiff’s vehicle.” At the same time, another vehicle struck Watson’s car from behind, and a third and fourth vehicle pulled up on Watson’s right and left side.
The officers exited their cars guns drawn noted verbally that there was no one else in the car with Watson. One officer broke the driver’s side rear window of Watson’s car before she was dragged out of the vehicle, according to the court filing.
When Watson asked what was going on, an officer pressed a taser to her neck and said “I’m going to fuck you up,” according to the suit. Then an officer eventually said, “I think we have the wrong person.” The officers returned to their vehicles and drove away without apologizing.
Watson is now seeking compensatory and punitive damages on the grounds that she was falsely imprisoned and her Fourth Amendment right to be secure in her person against unreasonable searches and seizures was violated.
“I thought I was about to be kidnapped” Watson said during a news conference last week.
Richard Smith, president of the Delaware NAACP, was driving by when he heard Watson cry out and stepped in. “What do we do as Black people in the city of Wilmington? Just lay down and die” he said at the press conference.
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