‘Everything went black.’ Cops beat CA mom unconscious in front of kids, suit says
A federal civil rights lawsuit brought by a woman beaten unconscious in front of her family by deputies accused of arresting her without probable cause has been settled for $17 million in California, her attorney announced.
Nakia Porter had been driving to her home in Sacramento from Oakland with her father, her children, ages 4 and 6, and her 3-year-old niece the evening of Aug. 6, 2020, when she encountered two Solano County sheriff’s deputies after she stopped her car on a dead-end road, according to her lawsuit.
Porter stopped to switch seats with her father, J.B. Powell, who was going to take over for the rest of the drive so she could relax, the lawsuit says.
After Porter stepped outside her car, a male and female deputy who had been parked on the road approached and told her to get back in the vehicle, according to an amended complaint. The filing says Porter tried to explain she was switching seats, to no avail.
Body camera footage published by the Sacramento Bee, provided by CAIR Sacramento Valley, shows the male deputy with his gun drawn before joining the female deputy to detain Porter.
“Ms. Porter did not understand what was happening…,” the complaint states. “She had been complying with the Solano Deputies’ orders and had not provoked them in any way.”
Footage from the body camera shows Porter being assaulted and forced onto the ground by both deputies. While down, she’s heard saying “God bless me.”
The recording captures the male deputy repeatedly ordering Porter to get on her stomach as he gets on top of her and pushes her face into the pavement, according to the video. He is also heard warning she was going to be tased.
At that point, Porter becomes unconscious, according to the complaint. She was knocked out for more than five minutes.
In front of her father and children, the complaint says, Porter was “punched, kicked, kneed, and struck in the back of the neck, head, face, and stomach.”
The body camera footage showed the male deputy dragged Porter into a patrol car while she was still passed out, according to the filing.
Porter’s father was then detained at gunpoint, despite him being compliant, according to the lawsuit. The body camera footage captures the male deputy telling Powell that he was not under arrest, but was being detained.
Porter spent that night in jail, the complaint says.
Though the sheriff’s office sought for the district attorney’s office to prosecute her on a charge of “preventing an executive officer from performing a duty by means of threat or violence,” the district attorney chose not to pursue charges, according to the complaint.
Settlement reached
The $17 million settlement reached with Solano County was approved Sept. 3, court records show. The case was officially dismissed with prejudice on Sept. 29.
“What happened to Ms. Porter and her family should never happen in our society, which values and respects law and order and the equality and dignity of all people,” lead counsel for Porter, attorney Yasin M. Almadani, of Almadani Law, said in a news release.
In response to a request for comment on Sept. 30, the Solano County Sheriff’s Office referred McClatchy News to a statement from the county.
In the statement provided by county spokesperson Matthew A. Davis on Sept. 30, the settlement, related to “a use-of-force incident,” was reached with all parties having agreed the claims remain disputed.
“The County made the decision to settle after careful evaluation of the risks, costs, and time associated with protracted litigation,” the statement said.
The county mentioned it cannot comment on the employment status of the deputies named in the lawsuit.
‘I struggled for my life’
According to the complaint, the deputies detained Porter because of a potential discrepancy with her license plate.
Porter, who had recently moved to California from Maryland, forgot to remove her old Maryland plate from the front of her car, the lawsuit notes.
Though an infraction, this is not a criminal offense under California law, nor does it justify deputies physically detaining Porter, the complaint argues.
“As the officers dragged me away and beat me, all I could think of was my children,” Porter said in a statement on the settlement.
“I struggled for my life, praying to God to save me,” Porter added. “Then everything went black.”
After other deputies and paramedics arrived, the two deputies are accused of blaming Porter and downplaying what happened, according to the lawsuit.
They both lied about how long she had been unconscious, the complaint says.
The male deputy said she had been unconscious for “no more than twenty (20) seconds” while the female deputy estimated “five (5) seconds,” according to the filing.
After Porter regained consciousness, the deputies would not let paramedics take her to get medical help, despite her asking, the complaint says.
They drove her to a hospital and stayed for her examination, according to the complaint, which argues the exam was inadequate.
Then she was booked in jail before she was released the next morning, after her husband posted her bond, according to the complaint.
The injuries to Porter’s body showed she could have died or become paralyzed during the assault, the complaint says. She also had symptoms of a severe concussion.
The incident has negatively affected Porter’s career and her family, causing lasting physical and psychological injuries, according to the complaint.
Powell still lives in Sacramento County, but Porter has since moved to the East Coast with her family, the complaint says.
“These deputies treated us less than human and left a void we are still struggling to fill,” Porter said, adding that she wants “to see real change.”
This story was originally published October 1, 2025 at 1:12 PM with the headline "‘Everything went black.’ Cops beat CA mom unconscious in front of kids, suit says."
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