A Monterey County sheriff’s deputy violated the rights of a U.S. Air Force officer who was tackled and handcuffed outside of his Carmel Woods rental home after a neighbor reported a suspicious, hoodie-wearing Hispanic man walking around the property.
That was the jury’s decision in the lawsuit brought by former Air Force Capt. Nicolas Aquino against the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office and then-Deputy Ivan Rodriguez, who has since been promoted to sergeant.
The verdict came Aug. 13 after a two-week trial before U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila, and nearly five years after the encounter outside the home Aquino, then a student at the Naval Postgraduate School, shared with his wife and their dogs.
The jury ordered the county to pay Aquino $200,000 for the violations of his Fourth Amendment rights and use of excessive force in the Dec. 13, 2013 incident, which ended his Air Force career.
Aquino says he got what he wanted most out of the trial: justice.
“I wanted the ability to stand up for the rights that we as citizens have in this country and I was glad the jury was able to see that,” Aquino says.
Aquino’s encounter with Rodriguez began after a neighbor reported a man described in Rodriguez’s report as “an adult Hispanic male wearing a hoodie” walking around 24591 Portola Ave.
Rodriguez went to the house and was outside when Aquino saw him, opened the door and asked if he needed help. Rodriguez asked to see identification, and Aquino held up his military ID card. When Rodriguez told him that didn’t prove he lived at the address, Aquino said he would go in the house and retrieve bills that proved it.
Rodriguez tackled him and threw him to the ground; he was handcuffed and placed in a patrol car, but released. Aquino found out a criminal complaint had been filed a few weeks later when the highest-ranking Air Force officer at NPS called him and told him there was a warrant out for his arrest for resisting arrest. District Attorney Dean Flippo dropped the case after public outcry.
Monterey County Counsel Charles McKee did not respond to requests for comment, and neither did sheriff’s spokesman Cmdr. John Thornburg. It’s not clear whether the county will appeal, but one of Aquino’s attorneys, Nina Patane, says it won’t surprise her if they do.
“They are really sure (Rodriguez) did nothing wrong,” Patane says. “They seem to be intentionally blinding themselves to the civil rights citizens of the county should be able to enjoy.”
Aquino, who now lives on the East Coast and works in cybersecurity, was used as a recruiting tool by the Air Force, featured in a promotional “American Airman” video. His family fled political persecution in Paraguay, and Aquino grew up in America with a goal of serving in the military.
“I can no longer serve my country to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, as easily or clearly as I did,” he says. “Those words and that oath have always guided me and it is a pain that I live with every day.”