At approximately 11:30 a.m. on May 14, 2015, plaintiff Daniel Garza, 26, a kinesiology student at California State University, Los Angeles, was exercising in front of his house when he was confronted by his neighbor, Police Officer Mario Cardona. Garza was previously in a relationship with Cardona’s stepdaughter, who was a younger college student. As a result, Cardona forbid them to date, so they dated secretly. However, on the night of May 1, 2015, the couple had a bad breakup. According to Cardona, Garza broke into his stepdaughter’s bedroom through her window and forced the stepdaughter into to his car against her will. However, Garza claimed that he was let in through the front door and went to his girlfriend’s room so that they could talk. He alleged that when he learned that she was cheating on him, he broke up with the stepdaughter and tried to leave, but that she got into the passenger side of his car willingly in an attempt to talk with him further. The next day, Cardona’s wife and her daughter went to the Downey Police Department to report the incident, but Cardona’s stepdaughter did not want to prosecute, so there was no incident report filed against Garza. However, Cardona’s wife returned to the Downey Police Department on the morning of May 14, 2015 to report the incident on her own. The police department filed the report as a professional courtesy, as Cardona was a police officer, but the report did not consist of an arrest warrant or have any binding significance. Cardona’s wife then told Cardona that she had filed the report. Garza claimed that after the breakup, he feared Cardona and stayed away from him for about a week because he knew that Cardona mistakenly believed that he had held the stepdaughter against her will on the night of May 1, 2015. After learning that Cardona’s wife filed a report with the police, Cardona pulled his truck into his own driveway across the street from Garza at approximately 11:30 a.m., crossed the street, and met Garza at the corner of Garza’s property. An altercation occurred. Cardona, who was previously at ceremony and had on clothing that was consistent with a police officer’s clothing, took Garza to the ground, straddled him, and held Garza’s arms back as Cardona called for his mother, who was across the street, to bring his duty belt, containing a holster, gun, badge, handcuffs, radio, ammunition and pepper spray. Cardona then handcuffed Garza as he called 9-1-1, stating that he had a kidnapping suspect in custody. When the sheriffs arrived, they removed the handcuffs from Garza, and no charges were ever filed against him. Garza claimed to his right wrist and shoulder. Garza sued Cardona; Cardona’s employer, the city of Los Angeles; and Cardona’s supervisor, Police Chief Charlie Beck. Garza alleged that Cardona’s actions constituted excessive force in violation of his constitutional rights and that the city and Beck were liable for Cardona’s actions. Garza claimed that Cardona attacked him because of his personal feelings toward him in regard to mistakenly believing that he had kidnapped Cardona’s stepdaughter on the night of May 1, 2015. Specifically, he claimed that after Cardona approached him, Cardona, who was in a police uniform, struck him on the right side of his head with his left fist. Garza claimed that he then began to yell for help as Cardona continuously punched him four to six times. Garza claimed that, eventually, Cardona grabbed his sweater and caused him to fall to the ground on his side, at which point, Cardona, who is a former U.S. Marine and is 6 feet tall, weighing approximately 220 pounds, sat on him, who is 5 foot, 7 inches tall, weighing 160 pounds. He alleged that he covered his face as Cardona straddled him and started punching him in the kidney and rib area before rolling him onto his back and punching him at least more 20 times. He alleged that Cardona then grabbed his right arm and flipped him over, called for his duty belt, and put him in LAPD handcuffs. Garza claimed that as his right arm was handcuffed, Cardona threatened to break his shoulder unless he gave Cardona his left arm. Garza claimed he pulled out his left arm, and then Cardona pulled it back hard and handcuffed it. Garza claimed that Cardona painfully twisted his wrists for an extended period time, despite the fact that he was handcuffed and not resisting in any way, and that Cardona left him handcuffed for approximately 15 to 20 minutes while Cardona was sitting on his back. He alleged that during that time, Cardona called 9-1-1 twice, during which Cardona identified himself as a police officer and told the dispatch that he “took a kidnap suspect into custody” and that there was a report filed with the Downey Police Department. In addition, Garza claimed that when the sheriffs arrived, they removed handcuffs after 10 minutes of being on the scene after realizing that he had done nothing wrong. Plaintiff’s counsel noted that a neutral eyewitness and neighbor to Garza and Cardona testified that he observed Garza “in a defensive stance” and “backpedaling, trying to block his face,” while Cardona was “just swinging away.” The eyewitness also testified that he knew Cardona was a police officer based on the way he was dressed and because he could be overheard addressing himself as “Officer Cardona of the LAPD” loud enough for bystanders to hear. Plaintiff’s counsel also contended that although Garza did not attempt to strike or resist Cardona at any time during the incident, Cardona still commanded Garza to “stop resisting” loud enough for witnesses to hear. Thus, counsel argued that Cardona was acting in course and scope of his duties as a police officer with the city of Los Angeles at the time of the incident and that Cardona’s actions constituted excessive force. Cardona contended that Garza threatened him and provoked the confrontation. Specifically, he claimed that Garza started to advance him and his family while making threatening comments, clenching his fists, and telling him to meet him in the street. Cardona claimed that when they met at the intersection, Garza threw a punch at his face, but that he deflected it to his chest and used a leg sweep to take Garza to the ground. He then used the handcuffs that his mother brought him from his car to cuff Garza. However, Cardona claimed that Garza kept moving his head from side to side, kicking his legs, and trying to get up despite his command to stop resisting. He further claimed that he never struck, kicked, or punched Garza in any way during the process of getting control over Garza. Cardona’s counsel noted that a passerby, an off-duty police officer, testified that he observed Cardona “cradling” Garza by maintaining a top position, which he recognized as a standard LAPD technique used to control a suspect and prevent escape. The eyewitness also testified that he saw that Cardona used a wrist lock, another police tactic, to keep Garza under control and that he did not see any injury on Garza. The city claimed that Cardona was not in the course and scope of his employment at the time of the incident. Cardona claimed that he was in clothing that was consistent with a police officer’s clothing because he was at ceremony earlier that morning and that he did not even have his badge or holster on him at the time of the incident. Counsel for both the city and Cardona argued that Cardona identified himself as an off-duty Los Angeles police officer on the first 9-1-1 call because the department’s police requires officers to do so whenever dealing with a law enforcement agency from another jurisdiction. The city’s counsel also noted that Cardona made no mention of his status as a police officer in his second 9-1-1 call. In addition, counsel for both the city and Cardona argued that Cardona said he had a kidnap suspect during the 9-1-1 calls in order to get local law enforcement officers to respond more quickly than if he had said he had a battery suspect., Garza claimed that after the incident with Cardona, he suffered pain in his right, dominant wrist and shoulder. Although there was no documented nerve damage, Garza claimed that he now has physical limitations in his right wrist and shoulder. Garza did personal training and was pursuing his education in the hope of becoming a physical education teacher. However, he claimed that he now is limited in the exercises he is comfortable doing. The plaintiff’s psychology expert opined that as a result of the altercation, Garza suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and adjustment disorder with depressed mood.