A family is suing a Salem police officer and the city of Salem for nearly $1 million, claiming the officer used excessive force when he grabbed a woman by the throat while responding to an accidental 911 call.

Angela Hernandez and her two adult children, Angel Hernandez and Josefina Valdez, filed a lawsuit against Salem police officer John Diaz and the city of Salem on Nov. 14 over a 2024 incident. The suit, filed in Marion County Circuit Court, also accuses other Salem police officers of assaulting Angel Hernandez during the response.

The family is seeking $900,000 in non-economic damages for emotional and mental distress, and $50,000 in economic damages for medical bills and lost wages, according to the lawsuit. The Statesman Journal first reported on the suit.

Efforts to interview the family’s attorney Kevin Lafky Friday were unsuccessful.

The lawsuit’s claims stem from a police response to the family’s West Salem apartment on Aug. 23, 2024.

Hernandez’s two children, one of whom was a minor at the time, had gotten into an argument. Angel Hernandez unintentionally activated a feature on his phone that automatically calls 911, the lawsuit said, and quickly hung the call up.

Hernandez, their mother, returned home soon after and put the children in separate rooms to calm down from the argument, according to the suit.

Salem police officers, including John Diaz, then arrived at the family’s home to investigate the call.

It is part of standard police procedure for officers to respond to hang-up 911 calls to determine whether the call was intentional or not, according to police spokesman Sgt. Jon Hardy. Often, hang-up calls stem from serious crimes in progress and domestic violence situations, he said in an email.

Hernandez wanted to keep her children separate and allowed officers to talk with Angel Hernandez outside of the apartment.

Hernandez told officers she did not want her daughter, Valdez, to be questioned by a male officer alone, according to the suit. A female officer went into the apartment to speak with Valdez.

A male officer, who is not identified by name in the lawsuit, went inside the apartment against Hernandez’s wishes, the lawsuit said. Hernandez was walking up the stairs to enter the family’s apartment when Diaz told her she was not allowed to enter as it was a crime scene.

She continued up the stairs before Diaz tripped her and said, “F— you, this is not gonna go your way,” before grabbing her by her throat and one of her wrists, the lawsuit claimed.

Diaz twisted one of her arms behind her back “so severely that she was afraid he would break her bones,” the complaint said.

Hernandez’s son, Angel Hernandez, who had watched Diaz restrain his mother, told him to let her go before other officers on scene pushed him down onto the stairs, according to the lawsuit.

Diaz then put the mother into tight handcuffs and she was later booked into the Polk County Jail. She was released hours later and never charged with a crime, the lawsuit said. State court records show no charges against her related to the booking.

According to the lawsuit, she and Angel Hernandez both suffered serious physical injuries from the incident. It said Diaz caused nerve damage to Hernandez’s hand, arm and shoulder along with spinal damage. Her son had severe bruising and a back injury that affected his ability to walk, the lawsuit said.

The family claims the incident caused them lasting psychological trauma.

Angel Hernandez “sees Diaz’s hand squeezing his mother’s throat every time (he) closes his eyes,” the lawsuit said.

Diaz is currently employed by the Salem Police Department, according to Hardy. Diaz has been an officer with the department since 2001, Oregon Department of Public Safety and Standards Training records show.

He started a leave of absence in August, according to the records. Hardy said he did not have information about what the leave was for.

In response to a request for comment about the lawsuit’s claims, Hardy said the Salem Police Department cannot comment on active lawsuits.

A city of Salem spokesperson did not respond to questions about whether Hernandez or her children had filed claims with the city prior to the suit, or whether the city had offered a settlement.

Expensive lawsuits against the Salem Police Department have contributed to increasing costs for other city services because of rising insurance costs, Salem Reporter reported in May. In the last two years, the city paid around $2 million for three separate lawsuits filed against the city for police conduct.

Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected].

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