OPA-LOCKA, Fla. – A woman who was a vendor at the Opa-locka Flea Market has filed a federal lawsuit against the city following her rough arrest.
Yolanda Lopez has hired attorney Michael Pizzi to represent her.
He filed the federal suit on her behalf for false arrest, excessive force and violation of civil rights.
The Opa-locka police officers named in the suit are Sgt. Johane Taylor and Gabriela Llanes.
According to a police report, Lopez refused to put her hands behind her back and pulled away from the officers during the October 2022 incident, but Pizzi calls what happened to his client excessive force and a false arrest.
Lopez said the flea market had closed and she was handing out flyers with a new location to her business to customers when the incident occurred.
Lopez was standing on the sidewalk when an Opa-locka police officer pulls up and tries to put her in handcuffs.
Another officer then pulls up and, according to the police report, Lopez resisted and was stunned with a Taser.
Video of her arrest shows Lopez being taken to the ground.
Two years later, the incident still brings Lopez to tears.
“I kept asking her, ‘Why are you doing this?’” Lopez said in Spanish. “She kept hitting me and hitting me.”
“She did absolutely nothing wrong,” Pizzi added.
Lopez is now lawyered up and taking aim at the department and officers.
“A stun gun, brutally thrown on the floor and then falsely arrested and imprisoned just because they are in a public street supporting their family,” Pizzi said. “We are suing the city of Opa-locka for several million dollars.”
According to the police report, before the takedown, an officer had already asked Lopez to move out of the street once.
The police report states Lopez was handing out flyers in the road and causing a hazard.
The report also states that Lopez refused at first, but then complied.
But minutes later, the officer claims Lopez was back and was again obstructing traffic.
“The flea market closed its door the day before that and there were still customers trying to come in through the gates,” Lopez’s husband, Yohan Lopez, said. “She was just standing there to hand out cards.”
Yolanda Lopez was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting without violence and obstructing traffic.
“No, she did not ignore any commands. I should also note English is not her first language,” Pizzi said. “The charges against her were dismissed… (The) State Attorney’s Office, when they looked at this, they threw this out immediately.”
Local 10 News reached out to the Opa-locka Police Department for comment, but did not receive a call back at the time of publishing.