At left, Officer Taisyn Crutchfield in photo provided by her attorney, Bradley Gage. At right, a screenshot from police video showing key incident cited in a claim filed by attorneys representing Taisyn Crutchfield, a Black police officer, against the Pasadena Police Department, alleging retaliation, discrimination, and harassment. [City of Pasadena]
A claim was lodged against the City of Pasadena on Thursday by attorneys representing Taisyn Crutchfield, a Black officer with the Pasadena Police Department, alleging retaliation, discrimination, and harassment.
The claim accuses Department personnel of acting against Crutchfield following her attempts to de-escalate a tense situation involving another officer and the son of a man killed by Sheriff deputies.
A claim is often the first step towards a lawsuit.
A City spokesperson characterized the claim as inaccurate and said the City would contest the allegations.
In the paperwork reviewed by Pasadena Now, attorneys Bradley C. Gage and Ben Crump cite alleged whistleblower retaliation and violations of the Fair Employment and Housing Act, the Peace Officer Bill of Rights, the Bane Act, and the Ralph Act against Crutchfield.
The documents refer to a purported series of retaliatory and discriminatory incidents involving other Pasadena police officers which arose after a confrontation involving family members of Charles Towns, a 47-year-old local man who was fatally shot by Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies in Altadena in January.
In the early morning hours of February 20, Pasadena police detained and handcuffed Carlos Towns, his mother, Barsha Knox, and a minor after a disturbance on Walnut Street and Marengo Avenue near the Pasadena police station.
No one was cited or arrested.
During the confrontation and detention of the trio, the claim said Officer Ralph Palacios “violently face-planted unarmed Towns in the flower planter which had cactus. Palacios then handcuffed Carlos, causing him pain and bruising.”
Palacios then yelled at the handcuffed Knox and suddenly approached her, coming within one to two feet and causing her to “have an apprehension of imminent unlawful and harmful touching,” according to the claim.
“But to Knox’s relief, Taisyn Crutchfield … swiftly intervened, by lightly touching Palacios and moving between Palacios and Knox, protecting Knox from assault. Palacios was guided away from Knox and the situation de-escalated. Palacios responded by pushing the Crutchfield and yelling ‘Don’t f—ing touch me!’ or words to that effect,” the claim said.
Crutchfield, the claim said, has faced serious negative repercussions within the department following her intervention during the incident.
She was placed on administrative leave, allegedly in retaliation for breaking the department’s code of silence and intervening in the incident involving Officer Palacios.
She has since been returned to active duty.
The claim details various alleged violations of the Peace Officers Bill of Rights and other legal protections afforded to law enforcement officers.
It also outlines allegations of economic and non-economic damages suffered by Crutchfield.
City Public Information Officer Lisa Derderian acknowledged the City had received the claim and said “the facts alleged about the incident are inaccurate” and referred to videos of the matter that were previously released by the City and may be seen online:
“The City will vigorously defend itself in this matter and the facts will prevail,” Derderian said. “The Pasadena Police Department proudly serves the residents of Pasadena with honor and integrity, and is proud of its diversity throughout all ranks of the Department.”
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