Protesting closure of Opa-locka Flea Market got vendor tased. Now, she’s suing cops.
An Opa-locka woman who claims police unlawfully arrested her, threw her to the ground and stung her with electronic Taser prongs is suing the city and the officers in federal court for false arrest, malicious prosecution and other civil rights violations.
Cellphone video taken from across the street by the husband of Yolanda Lopez shows the woman passing out fliers on a public street, then struggling with officers as they tried to handcuff her and force her to the pavement. Lopez, 49, was arrested in October 2022, the day after the owners of the Opa-locka Hialeah Flea Market — where she and her husband sold automotive accessories — forced tenants out and shut down.
Her attorney Michael Pizzi claims his client was on the phone with 911 asking for help as she was being arrested. Though he’s been unable to obtain the actual call, the attorney provided a screen shot of a 911 call in which the time and date coincide with his client’s arrest.
“It’s a really sad day when a family that’s trying to save their business is not safe from being brutally beaten up,” said the attorney. “What happened here really shocks the conscious.”
Calls and texts to Opa-locka’s city attorney, city manager and police chief seeking comment on the federal lawsuit had not been returned by early evening Thursday.
FLEA MARKET CLOSING PUTS VENDORS ON THE STREET
When the new owners of the Opa-locka Hialeah Flea Market decided to shut down and redevelop in 2022, they not only stripped the city of one of its largest economic engines, but also shuttered a place where South Florida immigrants gravitated to for more than four decades to shop, socialize and work.
For many, the enormous 43-acre property wedged between Hialeah, Miami Lakes and Miami Gardens, was one of their first gathering spots, long before they visited South Florida’s malls. They ate and played there, and in many cases eventually went to work there.
It was no different for Yolanda Lopez and her husband Johan Fernandez Rodriguez. The couple, who have two children and immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba in the early 2000s, quickly became enamored with the flea market and opened up shop there in 2015. Seven years later they were forced out. The next day, Lopez was arrested. Though the couple has dabbled in some other business ventures the past two years, they’ve never been able to re-open their auto shop.
According to Lopez’s arrest report, Opa-locka Police Officer Gabriela Lllanes was working on off-duty job at the flea market the day after it closed, when she noticed Lopez on a sidewalk across the street, her car parked on the sidewalk, passing out fliers. Llanes said she used her megaphone as many as 10 times, ordering Lopez to move her vehicle and to stop halting traffic on the roadway.
Lopez moved her car, Lllanes said, but went right back to handing out fliers and blocking traffic. Llanes said when she heard a Miami-Dade dispatch call to deal with a woman handing out fliers and stopping traffic, she again confronted Lopez. As she tried to handcuff Lopez, the officer said she tensed and pulled back. By then, Opa-locka Police Sgt. Johane Taylor arrived and the two of them tried to take Lopez into custody. Llanes said she struck Lopez with the Taser twice before she complied.
She was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest without violence and obstructing traffic. A few days later, the charges were dropped. Reached this week, a spokesperson with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said there was no close-out memo outlining why charges against Lopez were dropped. She said they were rare in misdemeanor cases.
The 70-second cellphone video taken by Lopez’s husband shows Llanes arrive, park her SUV and walk over to Lopez, who appears to try and move away. Taylor then shows up in a large SUV that partially obscures the view, but Lopez’s husband walks around with the camera until the trio can be seen again.
Lopez seems to be tensing and moving against the officer’s advances as they struggle to get her into custody. At the 46 second mark, Lopez screams and the sound of the Taser is clear. After being struck, Lopez goes to the ground and is handcuffed.
LAWSUIT: POOR TRAINING LED TO EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE
The federal civil suit filed in the U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida this week, names the city of Opa-locka, Llanes and Taylor as defendants. Among the eight counts listed are false arrest, excessive force and assault and battery. The lawsuit also accuses Opa-locka of civil rights violations, faulty training and asks for a jury trial.
It claims Lopez was simply minding her own business when she “was tased and physically assaulted for no reason.” It argues she was arrested without probable cause or reasonable suspicion of having committed a crime.
The lawsuit also alleges that Lopez “was innocently standing on public property in front of the former Opa-locka Flea Market after her and husband had been thrown on the street and forced to close their family business. The Opa-locka Police Officers, who were on duty and in uniform, brutally attacked her and threw her to floor and repeatedly stun gunned her as Yolanda was actually calling 911 to complain about police misconduct.”
This story was originally published May 31, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
