One of two teenage girls who says they were wrongfully handcuffed by Chula Vista police officers in an incident where officers determined no crime was committed has filed a complaint against the five officers involved.
Tayler Costello, 18, filed the complaint at the Chula Vista police station last week because she said she wants the department to release body camera footage of a June 11 incident in which officers responded to a home burglary call at an east Chula Vista home where Costello and six others were inside.
Costello said officers entered the home unlawfully with guns pointed at them. After officers made their way inside, they handcuffed Costello and her friend, Oriana Betancourt, 17, who lives in the home as they investigated the situation.
Chula Vista Police Lt. Eric Thunberg previously said the two were handcuffed because they were not complying with officers’ orders. Others in the house were not handcuffed.
Both Costello and Oriana have disputed the officers’ accounts and said they were following officers’ commands so there was no reason for them to be handcuffed.
“I want to see the video, just to see that our point was proven and that we are telling the truth,” Costello said.
“Because some of the things they said I feel like were just made up.”
Betancourt’s mother, Yvonne Betancourt, said days after the incident she called the department to complain about how officers handled the situation poorly.
Betancourt had said a supervisor looked into the body cam footage and told her that Costello and Oriana were obeying the officers.
Costello said body cam footage would prove that their treatment was not justified.
Chula Vista Police Capt. Lon Turner said the department is in receipt of the complaint.
“The department takes seriously any complaints related to employee misconduct,” Turner wrote in an email. “We take pride in providing a professional level of police service to our community and this can only be done by ensuring we hold ourselves accountable in the internal investigation. We will investigate their matter, determine if officer conduct was appropriate and if necessary, take corrective action.”
Turner said when a citizen complaint is filed the department’s professional standards unit refers the matter to the employee’s supervisor to investigate the matter. The supervisor will collect the relevant facts related to the administrative investigation to draw a conclusion. The complaint is dispositioned after review by management and a command staff member. The complainant is then notified of the disposition via a written letter.
Turner said depending on the results of the investigation disciplinary action may be taken.
The complaint stems from an incident in which Chula Vista City Council Candidate Steve Padilla pulled up next to th Betancourt’s home to canvass for votes. Upon his arrival, Padilla said he saw a black male outside the doorstep of the home looking as if he was trying to force his way inside. Padilla said moments after exiting his vehicle he no longer saw the man and thought the man had forced his way in or someone had let him in.
Padilla said he walked the neighborhood for about 30 minutes and when he returned he noticed the home’s front door had scrapes on it, was ajar, and the front door lock was broken. Padilla said he had enough suspicion to believe someone had broke into the home so he called police.
Betancourt and Costello had accused the city council candidate of racial profiling, saying he only called the police because he saw a black man standing outside the home. Padilla denied those claims and said he called police because he was trying to do the right thing.
The man who Padilla suspected of breaking into the home was Patrick Charles, the boyfriend of Costello, who was invited inside the home to hangout with friends.
In her complaint, Costello wrote: “Steve Padilla was campaigning in this neighborhood and called 911 because he saw a young, black male enter the house and assumed he was breaking in. Five cop cars arrived and used excessive force on all the people inside (the home). I was handcuffed and humiliated outside. At least two guns were pointed at me.”
Thunberg said an internal review of footage from the body cameras showed that officers did not have their guns drawn and pointing at individuals inside the home, but rather had their guns out of their holsters and pointed down.
Thunberg said there were reports of a home burglary in the same part of town earlier in the day and based on the suspect description that Padilla provided in his call to police, officers were concerned Charles matched the suspect of the home burglaries from earlier. Thunberg said officers had enough reason to enter the home with guns out, ready to meet a threat.
Costello said having guns pointed at her for no reason and being placed in handcuffs has left her traumatized.
Costello said she wants an apology from the responding officers for the way she was treated.
“The call was for a suspicious black man, that’s not the description of me so I want to know why I was handcuffed?” Costello said.
Betancourt has not filed a complaint on behalf of her daughter. She said she is weighing her legal options.
