Family sues Oakland police, saying it was ‘terrorized’

An Oakland family was “terrorized” by police at home in December and a subsequent coverup by the Oakland Police Department only heightened the family’s fear and anxiety, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in federal court.

The lawsuit names the city of Oakland and five Oakland police officials: four men who were alleged to have been involved with the December incident and one lieutenant who allegedly withheld information from the family.

About 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 7, a man pounded on the door of Nemesio and Olga Cortez’s home in Oakland’s Redwood Heights neighborhood, according to the lawsuit and police reports. The man, later identified as Oakland police Officer Cullen Faeth, allegedly assaulted both Cortezes before being arrested in front of their home.

A second man who ran up the couple’s driveway and appeared to have a gun fled the scene and has never been identified. The lawsuit alleges that he, too, is an Oakland police official.

Later that night, Oakland police twice visited the home to interview them and, the Cortezes say, persuade them to downplay the incident, according to the lawsuit. The Cortezes say they didn’t learn that the man who had tried to enter their home was a police officer for several weeks, and then only after Olga Cortez, an Alameda County probation officer, had heard rumors about him.

“The conduct was pretty outrageous” the night of Dec. 7, said attorney John Burris, who is representing the family. “But the coverup, that goes to the integrity of the department.”

Officials with the Oakland Police Department and the city attorney’s office did not respond to requests for comment late Friday afternoon.

The lawsuit describes in detail the events of the night, which have been widely reported. In addition to the lawsuit, the couple earlier this year filed a claim against the city of Oakland seeking more than $25,000 in damages and accusing the Police Department and its officers of committing assault, battery, trespassing, infliction of emotional distress, negligence and negligent hiring.

The lawsuit names Faeth and three other police officials: Sgt. Joe Turner, Officer Trevor Stratton and Officer Bryan Budgin. One of those three is believed to be the man who fled the scene, and the other two were in a car that helped him escape, the lawsuit says. All four men were placed on paid leave after the incident, according to attorneys for the Cortez family.

The fifth individual named in the lawsuit is Lt. Ronald Holmgren. According to the suit, after Olga Cortez heard rumors that police officials were involved, she spoke with Holmgren, who confirmed that two officers “mistakenly went to her house” to look for a party, according to the lawsuit. When Olga Cortez told him how terrified her family had been, Holmgren said she was “being silly,” the lawsuit states.