Facts

Tatiana Lopez and Miguel Amarillas sued the County of Los Angeles and several officers involved in their narcotics arrest and detention that occurred on Oct. 7, 2009. Lopez and Amarillas alleged they were driving to Lopez's parents house in South Gate when they were stopped by officers, arrested, and jailed. Lopez was jailed for two days before she was released without charges. Amarillas was also eventually released without charges. The pair alleged in their complaint that they were falsely arrested and framed with drug possession.

According to Deputy Francisco Enriquez, he stopped the pair's car after seeing Amarillas' gold Lexus driving dangerously on Imperial Highway. He noticed Lopez speaking rapidly and sweating, despite the cool weather. He then suspected that the pair were on drugs and they were subsequently taken to the sheriff's station in separate cars.

Enriquez wrote in a police report that he discovered drugs in the patrol car after Lopez was taken out of the car. An investigation later revealed that Lopez was actually transported by another deputy, not Enriquez. Those inconsistencies led prosecutors to drop a felony charge against Lopez and resulted in perjury charges filed against Enriquez.

Enriquez also wrote in his police report that he and other deputies searched the couple's home where they found another bag with drugs in a bedroom dresser, containing the same distinctive insignia as the bags allegedly found in the patrol car. Enriquez further claimed that he gave the pair a chance to provide a urine sample for a drug test, but they refused. The couple, meanwhile, claimed that they were never asked to take a urine test and denied using or possessing any drugs. Lopez accused the deputies of trying to pressure her into saying the drugs belonged to Amarillas, who admittedly was once associated with a gang. She also claimed that a deputy threatened to have her son removed.

Result

The parties agreed to settle for $550,000.