On March 12, 2016, plaintiff Fredy Torres, 27, a councilman’s field deputy, was arrested near 43rd and McKinley streets, in South Los Angeles. Torres claimed that he had just parked a city car when he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. He was ultimately not charged with a DUI after his drug test came back negative. Torres sued the arresting police officers, Steven Alaniz, Gina Bracht, Anna McKinley, Ruben Padilla, Steven Ruiz and Douglas Westphal; the officers’ supervisor, Sergeant Roberto Calderon; and the officers’ employer, the city of Los Angeles. Torres alleged that the defendants’ actions constituted an unlawful arrest, in violation of his civil rights. Several defendants were voluntarily dismissed during discovery. The matter proceeded to a bench trial against Ruiz and the city only. Torres claimed that he was arrested without probable cause. His counsel argued that video from body cameras showed that Torres was clearly and coherently communicating with Ruiz and that Torres was following Ruiz’s instructions at the time of the stop. Counsel also questioned the alleged results of the field sobriety tests, noting that a urine analysis later found no trace of a controlled substance in Torres’ system. Defense counsel noted that when the officers first spotted Torres, they ran the license plate and found that the car was city owned and had not been reported stolen. However, counsel argued that the officers decided to pull Torres over because the license plate appeared to be scratched, which indicated to the officers that it could be evidence of an attempt to conceal a vehicle that had been stolen. Ruiz claimed that Torres was not cooperative, causing him to believe that Torres was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. He also claimed that he placed Torres under arrest after Torres failed field sobriety tests. In response, plaintiff’s counsel argued that Ruiz’s claims were not corroborated by body camera footage or by other officers., Torres claimed that as a result of the arrest, he was let go from his position, which he had since 2015. He also claimed the incident caused him to suffer emotional distress. The plaintiff’s psychology expert testified about Torres’ emotional distress, as well as the anxiety and depression Torres allegedly suffered. Torres sought recovery of emotional distress damages as a result of the incident.