Juarez

facts pled in the complaint, scope of employment is a factual issue that cannot be resolved as a matter of law on demurrer. Taking these allegations as true, Officer Brown’s off-duty misconduct while investigating a suspected theft of his cell phone and wielding his authority as a peace officer for the District may fairly be regarded as an outgrowth of his employment—and is not so unusual or startling that it would seem unfair to expose the District to liability.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

We derive our facts from those properly pled in plaintiffs’ second amended complaint. (See Moore v. Conliffe (1994) 7 Cal.4th 634, 638 [we “treat the demurrer as admitting all material facts properly pleaded, but not contentions, deductions, or conclusions of fact or law”].) A. The Cell Phone Incident In February 2018, Juarez found a cell phone on the ground in Cherry Valley, California, located in Riverside County. Juarez placed it in his truck. Later that afternoon, when Juarez and the other plaintiffs were outside of Hinojosa’s home in nearby Beaumont, California, Officer Brown approached them after tracking his cell phone to their location.

2 Officer Brown, who was employed by the…