Lawsuit Filed Against SLPD, City for False Arrests and Press Releases

Two men have a class action lawsuit against the City of San Leandro and its police department claiming that SLPD used officers posing as decoys to lure men into public restroom stalls to bust them for seeking consensual sex.

The lawsuit is reported in a story on the website Courthouse News Service.

Steven Mengel and Michael Woody are suing San Leandro, SLPD and Police Chief Sandra Spagnoli, along with four officers claiming that they have lured men into public restrooms to bust them for seeking consensual sex, Courthouse News reports.

After the incident, Mengel he had become mentally upset, distressed, aggravated and suffered humiliation, embarrassment, and mental anguish, especially after police issued out a press release which included photos of the two men, Courthouse News reports.

"We have not received this lawsuit," Spagnoli said in an email on Friday.

The two were arrested last year during a sting operation where police suspected them of hanging around a Marina bathroom to solicit sex with other adult males.

Mengel said he had agreed to perform a sexual act on the undercover defendants Officer Matthew Barajas and Det. Morgan, shortly after which he was arrested. However, he said it was a false arrest, according to Courthouse News.

He claims he did not "loiter with the specific intent to engage in any sort of lewd conduct, nor did he solicit any act intending to perform it in a public place where he knew or should have known that there were persons present who were likely to be offended," the article states.

Criminal charges against Mengel were dismissed but he felt the city police policy violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, according to Courthouse News.

As for Woody, he was arrested after an officer not dressed in uniform approached him in a different restroom and "followed him aggressively urging him to stay," Courthouse News reports.

Woody claimed that no charges were ever filed against him, but Spagnoli issued the press release stating that he had been arrested for "loitering with intent," Courthouse News reports.

Both men estimate that hundreds of other men have also been falsely arrested on charges of "soliciting or engaging in lewd conduct," Courthouse News Reports.

San Leandro Talk has posted the class action complaint on its website. It is also attached within this article.

To read the full report from Courthouse News Service, click here.