Newells

BACKGROUND

I. Facts

At about 2:23 on a Sunday afternoon in February 2018, Lerena assaulted a woman in a Walmart parking lot in Palmdale and drove off in the victim’s Toyota RAV4. Lerena proceeded to drive the RAV4 erratically and at high speeds around Palmdale. Several motorists called 911 to report Lerena’s driving. At about 3:00 p.m., LACSD dispatch put out a broadcast to its patrol units that a carjacking suspect had been spotted driving eastbound on Elizabeth Lake Road at Ranch Center Drive and asked for deputies to respond. Deputies Hanley and Warner, who were in separate marked LACSD vehicles with their respective partners, responded to the broadcast. A dispatcher authorized them to proceed, with their lights and sirens activated, to the suspect’s last known location. At around the same time, one motorist who called 911 chose to follow Lerena while he remained on the line with the LACSD 911 dispatcher. In doing so, he related information about Lerena’s driving that made clear he was following her. Plaintiffs contend the dispatcher never told the caller to stop, and even asked him to follow Lerena.2 At one point, while heading

We say “contend” because plaintiffs…