Monrovia woman sues sheriff’s department over ‘high

LOS ANGELES — A Monrovia woman sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Thursday, alleging in federal court that deputies used illegal “high risk” traffic stop tactics against her in which they held her at gunpoint, forced her onto her knees and handcuffed her for no good reason.

Gabriela Koutantos contends she was driving her lawfully rented U-Haul cargo van with an Arizona license plate on Sept. 25, 2022, when deputies pulled her over on Atlantic Boulevard near Hubbard Street in East Los Angeles in the erroneous belief that the truck might be stolen, according to the complaint for alleged civil rights violations.

“Only after detaining Ms. Koutantos for a significant period of time did the deputies finally tell her that they had pulled her over believing that her vehicle was stolen but confirmed that it was not,” the suit alleges. “The deputies could have quickly learned the same information by simply asking Ms. Koutantos a few questions and without subjecting her to these terrifying and traumatizing tactics.”

The suit was filed on behalf of Koutantos and her mother, Barbara Kappos, who was accompanying her daughter in Kappos’ own car while Koutantos drove the rented van to return it to a U-Haul location.

“Kappos saw LASD deputies pull her daughter over, hold her at gunpoint, force her onto the ground, violently handcuff her and detain her in a police car,” the plaintiffs’ attorney, Brian Olney, said.

A message sent to the LASD requesting comment was not immediately answered.

The plaintiffs allege that the deputies were following the LASD’s “illegal and reckless” policy of using “high-risk” tactics during low-risk traffic stops for nonviolent potential property crime. In 2014, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals declared the practice unconstitutional, but the LASD has defied the court “and continues to terrify and traumatize innocent Angelenos,” attorneys for the plaintiffs maintain.