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A lawsuit filed in federal court Thursday accuses Humboldt County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Campadonia of using excessive force during the traffic stop and arrest of an unhoused man in Garberville last year.

The suit, filed by Eureka attorney Benjamin Mainzer, alleges that while making an “unnecessary arrest” of plaintiff Darrin Dickson, who had been living out of his car, Campadonia lost his temper, yelled profanities and shattered the driver’s side window with his baton, injuring Dickson’s eye, face and scalp in the process. 

Campadonia then proceeded to grab Dickson by the throat and strike him in the face with his elbow, according to the suit. The complaint further alleges that after arresting Dickson, Campadonia had the man’s vehicle towed and impounded, against office policy, in retaliation for Dickson exercising his constitutional rights.

Humboldt County is also named as a defendant, accused of depriving Dickson of his constitutional rights by inadequately training, supervising and disciplining deputies; by regularly permitting them to use excessive force; and by sanctioning Campadonia’s behavior via an internal investigation that concluded that his actions did not violate office policy.

The county previously rejected a claim for damages that Mainzer’s office submitted on behalf of Dickson back in March.

Reached via email, Humboldt County Public Information Specialist Catarina Gallardo said “This is an important issue for the county. However, this is a legal matter and in order to respect the integrity of that process the county will not discuss this topic with the press at this time.”

Let’s take a closer look at the specific allegations:

According to the suit, Deputy Campadonia initiated the traffic stop on the evening of Sept. 26, 2023, pulling Dickson over near the intersection of Redwood Drive and Sprowl Drive in Garberville after seeing him run a stop sign and accelerate at an unsafe speed. 

The two knew each other from previous “peaceful” interactions, but Campadonia considered Dickson “uncooperative” because, in those previous meetings, Dickson had “elected not to answer questions Campadonia posed to him,” as is his Constitutional right, the suit alleges.

This time, as Campadonia approached his vehicle, Dickson rolled the driver’s side window down just enough so they could speak to each other. Campadonia asked him to roll it down further or open the door, but Dickson said he could hear the deputy “just fine,” according to the suit.

Meanwhile, a second deputy sheriff, Julian Aguilera, had arrived. 

Campadonia then yelled at Dickson, “Open the fucking door!” and shortly thereafter he ordered him to get out of the car, even though there was still no officer safety reason for Dickson to exit the vehicle,” the complaint says.

Ten seconds later, Campadonia deployed his extendable baton and smashed the driver’s side window, striking Dickson in the forehead and causing a bleeding contusion, according to the lawsuit. “Glass from the shattered window hit Dickson’s face and got in his right eye causing a corneal abrasion and other bleeding cuts on his face and scalp,” the complaint continues.

The suit says Deputy Aguilera tried to de-escalate the situation a couple of times, even using his hand to push away a taser that Campadonia had pulled and pointed at Dickson’s chest while yelling, “Do you want to get fucking tased?”

“Deputy Aguilera did not believe there was any reason for Deputy Campadonia to have drawn his taser, point it at Dickson and threaten to tase him,” the complaint says.

But Campadonia continue to escalate the situation, reaching into the vehicle to grab Dickson — momentarily by the throat — and in the ensuing struggle, striking Dickson in the face with his elbow, according to the complaint.

Around that time, officers from the California Highway Patrol arrived.

”These officers attempted to calmly speak to Dickson, but Deputy Campadonia continued to yell and curse at Dickson thwarting their efforts to deescalate the conflict that Deputy Campadonia had created,” the suit says. “Dickson told these officers that he feared for his life.”

Dickson was eventually arrested without further incident, and according to the complaint, Campadonia told him at the scene that his car was parked legally so he could leave it where it was.

“However, in retaliation for what Deputy Campadonia perceived as [Dickson’s] earlier noncompliance, Deputy Campadonia intentionally acted contrary to Dickson’s wishes and had Dickson’s vehicle towed and impounded in contravention to Department policy 502.2.3,” the suit says. “Deputy Campadonia knew or had reason to know that Dickson lived in his vehicle and knew or had reason to know that by towing and impounding the vehicle, he was taking away his only shelter.”

The lawsuit lists 10 specific claims for relief, including:

• assault,
• battery,
• unreasonable search and seizure — excessive force,
• substantive due process violations for seizing Dickson’s vehicle,
• liability from the county for ”perpetrating, sanctioning, tolerating and ratifying the outrageous conduct and other wrongful acts” and
• negligence.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction requiring deputies to undergo training on de-escalation tactics and excessive force; general and compensatory damages, attorneys’ fees, costs of the suit and “other and further relief as the Court may deem just and proper.”

Reached by phone, Mainzer declined to speak on the record about the case. 

Early last month the Outpost requested a copy of all body-worn camera footage from county deputies during this incident. The county denied the request, saying the footage is exempt from disclosure because the use of force did not result in death or “great bodily injury.”

We believe that that determination is legally unjustified and we continue to work toward getting the footage released.

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DOCUMENT: Darrin Dickson v. County of Humboldt, Ryan Campadonia and DOES 1-40, inclusive