Twice in two months, Keith Puckett was visited or stopped by El Segundo police.
One of the encounters involved a group of police officers visiting the 46-year-old black man’s El Segundo home in the early morning, and the other involved an officer conducting a traffic stop at night.
The two incidents in 2021 are at the center of a racial profiling and unlawful detention lawsuit filed Thursday against the city of El Segundo by attorneys representing Puckett.
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial, damages and an injunction prohibiting the city from engaging in unconstitutional conduct. The plaintiffs are also asking El Segundo to adopt appropriate policies and training to avoid such conduct in the future.
“Racism by law enforcement is illegal, unconstitutional and harmful to everyone who experiences it, even if it does not involve violence,” said Puckett’s attorney, Lauren Blas. in a statement. “Even if this doesn’t make national news, it’s harassing, degrading, insidious behavior that Black people and people of color have to deal with every day.”
“The City of El Segundo is committed to treating everyone fairly regardless of race, national origin, sexual orientation, sexual identity or alleged involvement in criminal activity,” the city said in a statement.
An investigation conducted by police on May 4 and an investigation conducted by the city’s Human Resources Department on April 22, 2022 into Puckett’s allegations found no wrongdoing.
The lawsuit states that Puckett was an active community member who served as a parent volunteer, PTA member, recreational youth sports coach, basketball coach at his son’s school, volunteer crossing guard and lunchtime safety support member.
El Segundo posted nearly 20 minutes of Dashcam and body camera video of each incident.
The first incident occurred shortly after midnight on January 21, 2021, outside Puckett’s home, when police questioned a car driven by one of Puckett’s friends that had stolen license plates.
Eventually, the officer explained to Puckett’s friend that his license plate might have a clerical error and needed to be cleaned immediately with the DMV, according to the video.
“The events of January 21st deeply disturbed Mr. Puckett,” the lawsuit states. “He couldn’t sleep that night and had to take time off work the next day.”
The second incident occurred on March 14, when Puckett was pulled over because an officer noticed his license plate light was not working.
Puckett’s video and subsequent photos appear to show working lights and a visible license plate.
The officer asked Puckett for his name and personal information.
Puckett accused the officer of pulling him over simply because of his race.
Shortly after running his message, the officer thanked Puckett for his cooperation and wished him a good night, according to video provided by the city.
“For the second time in two months, Mr. Puckett experienced extreme pain, was unable to sleep, and had to take the next day off work,” the lawsuit states. Although Puckett has not been pulled over since, he said he fears more racial profiling. .
But the city said in a statement that the video showed “police officers acted in a professional and respectful manner in both situations.”
Puckett still filed complaints with the police chief and city manager, but they were not resolved, the lawsuit said.
After the second incident, Puckett emailed then-City Manager Scott Mitnick, the lawsuit states.
Puckett met with Mitnick to further discuss what happened and spoke about the events in a meeting March 16, 2021 City Council Meeting.
An email sent to Mitnick, now mayor of the Northern California town of Moraga, went unanswered.
Puckett’s legal team said that before the lawsuit, he entered into 11 agreements with the city on issues including policing, anti-bias training and the treatment of black residents in the city to avoid lawsuits.
The city said it took Puckett’s claims “seriously” and hired an outside firm to investigate.
The city said it agreed to all but one of the policy changes, which was to “eliminate parking priority for obscured license plates.”
“The City of El Segundo is unwilling to agree to cease this practice because doing so would adversely affect public safety at a time of increasing concerns about crime,” the city said.
Brass, Puckett’s attorney, said the lawsuit “is a last-ditch effort to hold the city accountable for its unlawful conduct and force it to end ESPD’s racial profiling.”
