Army veteran Slade Douglas awarded $6.8 million in lawsuit against LAPD for August 2019 incident

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https://www.ourweekly.com/2026/01/07/army-veteran-slade-douglas-awarded-6-8-million/

A $6.8 million jury verdict was rendered in favor of Slade Douglas in a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles and two Los Angeles police officers.

The lawsuit stemmed from an incident in August 2019 when Douglas was arrested by Los Angeles police officers at his apartment after the officers were sent to the apartment by a call from an employee of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs who was angry that Douglas had filed a discrimination complaint against the agency.

The suit stems from an incident in August 27, 2019, when LAPD officers conducted what they contended was a welfare check and what Douglas’ attorneys said was a government-initiated swatting by the VA, leading to Douglas’s false arrest by Officers Jeremy R. Wheeler and Jeffrey H. Yabana. Following that arrest, Douglas was forcibly hospitalized, drugged, and sexually assaulted under color of law.

“This jury didn’t buy the excuses,” said Slade’s attorney Lauren McRae. “They stripped away the coverups, rejected the deflections, and delivered pure accountability. This verdict is justice for Mr. Douglas—and hope that fear of the next verdict drives real reform.”

The original lawsuit sought $30 million in damages.