Woman falsely accused of hit-and-run settles lawsuit with Scottsdale Police

Scottsdale settles lawsuit over false arrest of woman for hit-and-run

The lawsuit, filed in 2021, involved Yessenia Garcia, who was falsely accused of being involved in a hit-and-run in 2020. Garcia was in the area at the time, and her car was damaged by a random person in an unrelated incident. When police saw her car, that thought she comitted the hit-and-run. FOX 10's Stephanie Bennett spoke with both Garcia and her lawyer.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - The City of Scottsdale has agreed to pay a woman $200,000, after the woman was falsely accused of a hit-and-run.

The woman, identified as Yessenia Garcia, was arrested in May 2020, and her arrest went viral when officials released police body camera video that showed how Garcia was treated.

Garcia, according to reports, was at a bar with friends when a random person jumped on the hood of her car, causing damage to the hood and the windshield. Meanwhile, a hit-and-run happened nearby, and police thought she committed the crime once they saw her damaged car.

Body camera video shows Garcia's interaction with officers

In body camera video, a Scottsdale Police officer was seen reading Garcia her Miranda rights within 60 seconds. She was also not allowed to speak to an attorney. Eventually, surveillance video from the area showed that Garcia's car was parked for hours, in addition to showing the man jumping onto Garcia's car.

Garcia filed a lawsuit against the Scottsdale Police Department in 2021, and in January 2022, Scottsdale Police officials announced that they have disciplined some of their officers, following an internal investigation into Garcia's arrest.

"The employees who were found to have violated policy or fell short of department expectations received some degree of discipline or counseling depending on the severity of their policy violation," Scottsdale Police officials wrote in a statement. "The most serious of this discipline included one employee receiving a 40-hour suspension and another employee receiving a 20-hour suspension, both of which are unpaid."

"We made some mistakes, plain and simple, and the involved employees have been disciplined for those mistakes," Chief Jeff Walther said at the time.

The names of the police officers disciplined have never been released.

Garcia and her lawyer speak out

After the settlement was announced, we spoke with Garcia and her lawyer, Benjamin Taylor.

"I feel more at peace that there was light shed on this whole situation," said Garcia. "I'm so thankful for my attorneys and all the support."

"Her mugshot was blasted all across the internet, and people recognized her for something that she did not commit or do," said Taylor.

During the interview, Garcia recounted a moment during her arrest.

"The worst moment during that whole -- when I got arrested and all that, I think it was when they drew my blood. That was really hard to accept that it was happening, and I think that’s where I just started giving up," said Garcia. "I’m so thankful for all the cameras because without them, I don’t know if I would be here today."

Taylor also weighed in on the disciplines the officers reportedly received, as mentioned above.

"The discipline wasn’t harsh enough," said Taylor. "This was a slap on the wrist for these officers. Just a slap on the wrist. The punishment could have been definitely a lot harsher."