Pasadena Courthouse Judge to Take Up San Marino Police Gunpoint-Stop Lawsuit Wednesday

A Pasadena judge is scheduled Wednesday morning to take up the status of a civil rights lawsuit against the city of San Marino brought by a mother and daughter who say police ordered them out of their car at gunpoint and handcuffed them over a stolen-vehicle report the officers already knew did not match their license plate. They also allege the daughter was groped.

The status conference comes before Judge Jared D. Moses in Department P of the Pasadena Courthouse, in a case filed in May 2025.

Diana Mancillas and her daughter, Gabriana Gutierrez, sued in Pasadena Superior Court, naming the city and two officers. The complaint asserts false arrest and imprisonment, sexual battery, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil rights violations, and seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

According to the suit, a man called 911 at about 8:55 a.m. on May 5, 2023, to report he was following what he believed was his stolen 2013 Kia Optima. He told the operator the plate did not match his stolen car but said he still believed it was his, the suit states. Officers pointed guns at the two women, ordered them out with their hands up, told them to walk backward in front of onlookers and handcuffed them, the complaint alleges. Gutierrez, who was 19 at the time, was groped on her thighs and on a breast, the suit alleges.

The allegations are unproven at this time.

The status conference is set for Wednesday, Aug. 19, at 8:30 a.m. in Department P of the Pasadena Courthouse, 300 E. Walnut St., Pasadena. Parking is available for a fee in the structure at Marengo Avenue and Walnut Street, entrance at 240 Ramona St. All visitors pass through security screening. For more, call the court clerk at (626) 396-3307 or visit lacourt.ca.gov.