Tacoma council candidate says she was wrongfully arrested in 2021, seeks $100K from city
A Tacoma City Council candidate announced Tuesday that she has filed a claim for damages with the city for what she contends was her wrongful arrest by the Police Department at a 2021 incident where an officer drove through a crowd of pedestrians during an illegal street-racing event.
The claim alleges police officers violated federal law when they arrested Jamika Scott the night of Jan. 23 while she filmed a taped-off scene downtown. Police responded that evening after more than a hundred people gathered at Pacific Avenue and South 9th Street to take over the intersection and spin cars in circles.
Scott, who has previously run for mayor, wants to represent District 3 on City Council, which includes Hilltop, Central Tacoma and parts of the South End. In a news release, the candidate said she learned of the incident on social media and went to the scene to advocate for police accountability. Multiple videos spread online that night showing officer Khahn Phan driving through the crowd, knocking people over and running over at least one.
In an interview with The News Tribune, Scott said if the damages claim becomes a lawsuit — she must wait 60 days after submitting the claim to file one — she hopes it will create better pathways to accountability and conversations about police conduct.
“Justice would have been me not being unlawfully arrested,” Scott told the newspaper. “Justice would have been then, for the Police Department to say, ‘Hey, our officers did something wrong, we should do something about that.’ Or the city manager, or whomever to be like, ‘Hey, this thing happened. We should look into it.’ But none of that’s happened.”
Scott’s claim for damages alleges she was subjected to mental, physical and emotional pain and suffering as a result of the wrongful arrest, and that she experienced a loss of credibility to her candidacy for City Council. The claim seeks $100,000 in damages.
A spokesperson for the Tacoma Police Department, detective William Muse, said Tuesday afternoon that he was not at liberty to discuss active litigation.
The announcement comes just a week before the Aug. 1 primary. Five candidates are competing to replace council member Keith Blocker, who has been in office for eight years and has reached the end of his term limits. The candidates are John Frazier, Malando Redeemer, Chris Van Vechten, Scott and Sheldon Greyell. After the primary, the two candidates with the most votes will advance to the November general election.
Asked why she chose now to file, Scott said it is just how things worked out. She said she began speaking with her attorney, Beverly Allen, not long after the arrest and that they’ve been talking about bringing a claim before she decided to run for the council seat.
“I tried other ways of getting justice and this is the justice,” Scott said. “This is the path of justice that is available to me. So I have a right to walk down it.”
In the days after the incident, members of the Citizens Police Advisory Committee said the community had lost faith in the department, and city manager Elizabeth Pauli said she was shocked and horrified watching video of what happened.
Phan was placed on paid administrative leave while a Pierce County team that investigates police uses of deadly force looked into the incident. He had been with the department for nearly 30 years at the time. Pierce County Prosecutor Mary Robnett declined to file charges against Phan in July 2022. The officer retired at the beginning of that year.
Scott’s 2021 arrest in downtown Tacoma
Police officers working crowd control were trying to move a crowd of protesters up South 9th to Commerce Street when Scott was arrested, according to a police report. Announcements were reportedly given on a PA telling people to disperse. A police sergeant then told Scott she was under arrest, and she was detained and transported to the Pierce County Jail.
Scott said she and other bystanders were ordered to step back while she was filming, and instead, she and one other person were immediately arrested. She said she was tackled to the ground and had her phone seized before she was taken to jail, where she said she was booked on suspicion of obstructing a public official, then released hours later.
The candidate said charges were never formally filed against her.
Two officers noted Scott’s arrest in reports.
“While performing crowd control, I overheard Sgt. Smith advise a female, later identified as a/Jamika Scott, was under arrest and witnessed him attempt to detain her,” one TPD officer wrote. “I witnessed a/Jamika pull away from Sgt. Smith and attempt to flee northbound on Pacific Ave from S 9th St. I assisted Sgt. Smith in escorting the female to the ground and then detaining her in wrist restraints that were double locked and checked for tightness. I then escorted a/Jamika to a patrol vehicle.”
Scott, who has spoken about her arrest in the past, was born in Tacoma and grew up on Hilltop. She co-founded the Tacoma Action Collective, which is frequently critical about law enforcement’s use of force, particularly in the killing of Manuel Ellis, who died in TPD custody in 2020. Scott has also served on the board of the Tacoma Public Library foundation and has worked as a domestic-violence services provider for children through the YMCA. She now lives in Central Tacoma and says she works as a freelance creative.
This story was originally published July 25, 2023 at 2:43 PM.
