CA State Senator Says DUI Arrest Was Retaliation

RIVERSIDE, CA — A California state senator is moving to sue Sacramento police for unlawful detention and retaliation after she was accused of drunk driving in a t-bone crash near the Capitol earlier this year.

Sen. Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside) was broadsided by an SUV in Sacramento on May 19. Following the crash, the 37-year-old was taken to Kaiser Permanente hospital for minor injuries, where she says she was questioned by police for hours before she was cited for driving under the influence.

A blood test conducted by Sacramento police later confirmed Cervantes was sober, and prosecutors declined to file charges. She is now seeking damages and accountability for what she calls an ordeal that unfairly dragged her name through DUI headlines and caused emotional distress.

RELATED: RivCo Democrats Back Senator Accused Of DUI

“This is not only about what happened to me — it’s about accountability,” Cervantes wrote in a statement. “No Californian should be falsely arrested, defamed, or retaliated against because of who they are or what they stand for. The abuse of power that I endured undermines public trust and cannot be ignored.”

The lawmaker, who represents cities from Riverside to Menifee and more throughout District 31, is accusing the city of Sacramento of false arrest, unlawful detention and defamatory statements following the collision in May.

“Members of the Sacramento Police Department violated the law in an effort to destroy the reputation of an exemplary member of the State Senate,” her lawyer, James Quadra, wrote in a statement. “This claim seeks to hold the City of Sacramento accountable for the egregious misconduct of its police officers and to reaffirm that no one is above the law—including law enforcement.”

Cervantes contends that officers acted in retaliation for her legislation to limit police use of automated license plate readers. She also says she was targeted as an openly LGBTQ+ Latina and that police “leaked false claims to the press” to damage her reputation.

The lawmaker's claim seeks damages for false arrest, violation of the state's Bane act and intentional infliction of emotional distress and defamation. Under state law, filing such a claim is the required first step before a civil lawsuit can be brought against a public entity.

According to a claim filed last week, state Sen. Sabrina Cervantes was injured on May 19 when another driver ran a stop sign at S and 14th streets in Sacramento and t-boned her state-owned vehicle. The collision caused “significant damage” to the car and propelled it into oncoming traffic before Cervantes managed to steer to the curb, the filing states. Her chief of staff drove her to Kaiser Hospital for treatment, while a state fleet manager moved the vehicle to a nearby street.

The claim alleges that Sacramento police treated the driver who caused the crash — described as a young white woman — “with deference and respect.” Officer Daniel Williams reportedly did not ask to conduct a sobriety test or immediately issue a citation despite her failure to produce a driver’s license.

By contrast, when Officers Williams and Bailey Foster approached Cervantes at the hospital, they heavily questioned her about the accident and pressed her on whether she had been drinking, according to the claim. Cervantes offered to provide hospital test results showing she was sober, but the officers declined and instead sought to administer a field sobriety test. The claim argues that the disparate treatment and the officers’ conduct amounted to retaliation and unlawful detention.

After the crash, Sacramento police told reporters they had observed "objective signs of intoxication" when speaking with Cervantes at the hospital. In her claim, however, the senator said officers insisted she undergo an eye-movement test she described as “less accurate and subjective" than the blood test she had requested.

Hospital toxicology results later cleared Cervantes, but by then, the filing says, police had already “released false information to the press claiming that Senator Cervantes had driven while under the influence of drugs.”

The claim also alleges that one officer shut off his body camera for about five minutes while taking a cellphone call, and that the department failed to provide body-worn footage from a sergeant who was also present at the hospital.

The Riverside County Democratic Party has voiced its support for the senator, stating in a May 27 news release: “False Accusations Make Headlines. Vindication Deserves the Same."

“She was accused, detained, and thrust into headlines before any facts had been confirmed," Riverside County Democratic Party Chair Joy Silver wrote. "Now that the evidence has cleared her, the same attention should be paid."