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Dublin Police Services is facing two lawsuits alleging that officers with the agency falsified affidavits in order to obtain arrest warrants without sufficient evidence for two different arrests, one in 2018 and another in 2023.
Deepak Chopra, the owner of a Dublin knife store who was arrested in 2023 on charges of illegal weapon distribution, filed a federal lawsuit on April 11 alleging that police violated due process and conducted an unlawful search and seizure during their execution of a search warrant and his arrest.
“Plaintiffs were subjected to unlawful searches, seizures, false accusations, racial discrimination, and targeted retaliation,” attorneys said in the complaint filed on behalf of Chopra along with his wife and child.
“This campaign of harassment was perpetrated by Defendants for the purpose of damaging Plaintiffs’ reputation, destroying their family-owned knife business, and inflicting economic and personal harm without legal justification,” the lawsuit stated. “Not one of the countless charges alleged against plaintiffs has resulted in a conviction, for the simple reason that none of the crimes charged occurred.”
They further allege that DPS has failed to return seized weapons valued at $2 million, with officers continuing to enter the business without warrants “to attempt to induce unlawful sales in a continued campaign of harassment”.
Dublin police did not return a request for comment on the civil cases. Attempts to reach the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, which provides police services to the city of Dublin under contract, as well as the County Counsel’s Office were unsuccessful.
Chopra was arrested on April 13, 2023, when two DPS deputies allegedly entered the store without a warrant or probable cause, ultimately confiscating a sizable portion of Chopra’s inventory and taking him into custody on at least seven charges that the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute on Aug. 3, 2023.
One of those deputies, Christopher Shepard, was allegedly “motivated by the charges being dropped” to falsify affidavits in order to obtain a search warrant for Chopra’s home and business later that month, then seize the remainder of Chopra’s inventory including his personal gun collection valued at over $1 million.
“An independent third party firearms expert has confirmed that all of the seized inventory was lawful,” Chopra’s attorneys wrote.
Chopra has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges that stemmed from that arrest, with the case remaining active in Alameda County Superior Court as of this week.
In addition to emotional distress and physical health ramifications on Chopra’s part, his attorneys allege that Chopra’s then-5-year-old child, who has autism, was not allowed to return home for more than five hours during his father’s arrest, “causing the child to bang his head on the ground in distress and requiring emergency medical attention.”
In terms of monetary damages, Chopra’s attorneys estimate that he suffered $14 million in lost inventory and economic harm.
“Defendants’ conduct in taking all of his inventory and running him out of business constituted arbitrary and outrageous government action in violation of Plaintiffs’ Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process rights,” Chopra’s attorneys wrote.
Chopra’s attorneys are seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as the return of $2 million in allegedly wrongfully seized property, as well as an injunction preventing DPS from entering Chopra’s business without a valid warrant.
Meanwhile, an earlier lawsuit filed in January also alleges that DPS officers falsified affidavits in order to obtain a search warrant to allegedly wrongfully arrest a Dublin man, Michael Thompson, and seize legally owned property that has allegedly not yet been returned.
Attorneys for Thompson allege that DPS Officer Scott Brandon falsely claimed in an affidavit in 2018 that he could “clearly see” 20 to 30 marijuana plants growing outside in Thompson’s backyard, arguing that Thompson in reality had two to three marijuana plants in a greenhouse during that time. DPS officers contacted Thompson in June 2018 to tell him that growing marijuana outdoors was illegal in Dublin, and requested that he remove the plants that were allegedly outdoors within three days.
That October, Brandon and a DPS detective allegedly falsely stated in an affidavit that they could continue to see 20 to 30 plants growing outside in Thompson’s yard, leading them to gain a search warrant for his property that was executed that November, seizing the three marijuana plants that Thompson’s attorneys said were being legally grown indoors as well as the contents of a gun safe in Thompson’s garage, which consisted of 16 firearms parts and accessories, according to his attorneys.
Although criminal charges against Thompson were dismissed in 2022, his attorneys allege that DPS continues to wrongfully retain the property that was seized, despite two 2023 orders granted to Thompson requiring the return of a total of six firearms.
Thompson’s attorneys called the incident an “intentional and reckless disregard” for Thompson’s rights under the second, fourth and 14th amendments, leading to “severe emotional stress and trauma”.
“He was and is unable to fully protect himself and his family, deprived of his right to keep and bear arms that are in common use,” Thompson’s attorneys wrote. “He lost the use and enjoyment of his property. He was forced to assume debt by retaining counsel to advance his defense, to secure his property and obtain an order that law enforcement return the property taken by Defendant Brandon.”
Thompson’s attorneys are seeking to recover damages and attorneys fees, with that case currently set for a mediation hearing May 19. Chopra’s case is set for an initial case management conference in August.
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