By Deborah Bailey,
AFRO Contributing Editor,
dailey@afro.com
Four Landover Hills, Md. residents filed a lawsuit against Prince George’s County police on Nov. 27, seeking $16 million in damages after alleging police unlawfully entered the premises during a 2021 encounter with the residents. The incident included the shooting of a dog.
Erica Umana, Erika Erazo Sanchez, Dayri Benitez and Brandon Cuevas, represented by attorneys Billy Murphy and Malcolm Ruff, allege police entered the apartment without a warrant in response to a report of a dog bite. The plaintiffs and their attorneys were joined by community supporters, who spoke about the range of concerns that many residents continue to express about the county’s police department.
“We are seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages, and injunctive relief— including enhanced Fourth Amendment training of the entire Prince George’s County Police Department (PGCPD),” Ruff said, adding that the officers’ actions —in his estimation—violated his clients’ Constitutional 14th Amendment.
Murphy and Ruff displayed a clip of the body camera footage from police who allegedly entered the home of the roommates June 2, 2021 without a warrant, opening the door with a key police requested from the apartment complex’s maintenance worker, according to court documents.
Once inside, officers grabbed the occupants, slammed one of the roommates to the floor and shot the roommates’ dog, Hennessey, in the back, according to court documents. The roommates explained the dog, who was like a member of the family, eventually had to be put down.
Erica Erazo Sanchez spoke on behalf of her roommates. Holding back tears, Sanchez explained the raw trauma she continues to carry from the incident.
“I no longer feel safe in the presence of the Prince George’s County police,” Sanchez said. “I would not wish the pain and suffering we are going through on our worst enemy.”
“This is not just about us, but about everyone who has suffered at the hands of the Prince George’s County Police Department,” Sanchez continued.
Police detained the roommates in their cruiser for over an hour before releasing them without filing any charges.
“We will not be quiet about these abuses our clients suffered. Justice must be served,” said Ruff.
Jorge Benitez-Perez, lead organizer for the Prince George’s County chapter of CASA of Maryland, led a host of community advocates who pledged to stand by the four roommates while their case proceeds through the court system.
“Police brutality and police abuse will not be tolerated,” said Benitez-Perez. “We demand full accountability for the injustice of the PGCPD against these young individuals who should have been protecting these young people but instead were harmed by PGCPD,” he said.
NaShona Kess, Esq., speaking on behalf of the NAACP Maryland State Conference, also pledged continuing support of her organization for the case filed by the four roommates. The civil rights expert said she also believes the Constitutional rights of the roommates were violated by the police officers of Prince George’s County.
“They ignored all Constitutional rights. Police barged into a home they did not own,” said Kess. “Law enforcement officers should be held accountable when they break the law. The County must push the message that bad actors will be held accountable,” said Kess.
The NAACP Maryland branch is seeking the creation of civilian review boards to oversee police activity throughout the state.
William “Billy” Murphy, a veteran of civil rights court battles for more than four decades, said excessive force and civil rights violations by the Prince George’s Police Department have become ingrained into the department’s culture.
Murphy said that excessive force by police is an affront to residents of Prince George’s County.
“Knowing they have body cameras that can record what they do and what they say, how can they justify doing something as brazen as they did knowing the public would have full access to the brazen things they did?” Murphy said.
“They just did it anyway, because they believed they could get away with it— and so far, they have. They will not learn as long as we restrict our reactions to principles, good words and admonitions. The day for that is over,” Murphy said, adding that he will not let up on lawsuits against police misconduct.
“We won’t stop doing this until they stop,” he concluded.
In April of this year, Murphy and Ruff represented the family of Demonte Ward-Blake in a $7.5 million settlement. That payout was as a result of police action during a traffic stop by Prince George’s County police that left Blake paralyzed. Today, he is reliant on round- the-clock care and completely dependent on others. The award represented Prince George’s County’s second largest police brutality settlement in history.