LAPD cruiser.Photo: Getty
Two women are suing the Los Angeles Police Department after they say a group of officers held them at gunpoint during a “terrifying and unnecessary” traffic stop last year.
Officers allegedly ordered Balsaver to drop the key outside the window. The women were then instructed to get out of the vehicle with their hands over their heads. Police then allegedly forced the women to lay facedown in the street.
The women claim they were unable to clearly hear the police commands because the hovering helicopter drowned out the officers' voices.
Sen’s boyfriend, who had arrived at the apartment before the women, filmed the interaction.
“It was terrifying,” Sen later toldCBS Los Angeles. “It was probably the most afraid I’ve been in my life.”
In their complaint, the women alleged that they were not told why they were pulled over until they were already handcuffed. Balsaver then allegedly told an officer that she had a receipt for the truck, which she had rented earlier that day.
Weeks before the incident, U-Haul had reported the vehicle as stolen — but then reported it as being recovered shortly thereafter. The vehicle was then returned to the U-Haul fleet and rented out to Balsaver.
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A U-Haul spokesperson tellsCBS Newsthat the incident did not involve any error on the company’s part.
The women allege that after the police realized the error, they joked about the arrest and told the women that they should “demand free U-Haul services for a year.”
Balsaver, 31, told theLos Angeles Timesthat an officer placed “a lot of weight down on me” while she was lying on the ground.
“I felt terrified,” Balsaver said. “I thought the officers were going to shoot and kill me. There were a lot of officers with guns.”
Citing ongoing litigation, the Los Angeles Police Department declined to comment on the case.
An attorney for the two women did not immediately return PEOPLE’s call for comment.
source: people.com
