A San Francisco woman is set to receive an $825,000 payment as the result of a lawsuit against the police department after an officer manhandled her during a jaywalking stop.
The incident occurred in July 2024 when an officer used force to arrest her after catching her jaywalking, according to the San Francisco Standard.
In July 2024, esthetician Christiana Porter was violently arrested by a San Francisco police officer for jaywalking in the Richmond District.
The mom of six, a domestic violence victim who had just left an Office Depot where she was printing court documents for her case, was slammed against a wall, leading to a concussion and a separated shoulder that left her unable to work.
In response, Porter sued the city, seeking damages for the alleged violation of her civil rights. Now, San Francisco is moving to grant her a major settlement.
An ordinance(opens in new tab) introduced July 28 would authorize an $825,000 payment to Porter, who said she was leaving the office supply store when police Officer Josh McFall pushed her against a wall and pulled her hands behind her back.
Two years later, Porter says her shoulder and her head are still bothering her. She hasn’t returned to work, choosing instead to focus on raising her kids, including her 4-month-old infant. Now, she says she’s going to use the settlement money to provide for them.
“I’m very happy,” Porter said Monday.
She sued the city and McFall in March 2025. In her federal civil rights lawsuit, Porter’s lawyers argue that the detainment was illegal — jaywalking has been decriminalized in California since Jan. 1, 2023 — and that McFall used excessive force.
NEW: Video shows SFPD officers pulling up to a Black woman jaywalking on Geary last month.
— Mission Local (@MLNow) August 10, 2024
An officer approaches the woman, a mother of five, & they circle each other. Then, he slams her to the wall.
She's made 3 trips to the hospital, & plans to sue.https://t.co/THMHkSmnFN
Mission Local originally posted on the incident two years ago.
In the video, SFPD officer Josh McFall pulls up near Porter, lights flashing. Porter, wearing headphones, keeps walking, seemingly oblivious to the officer. McFall then drives the wrong way down Geary in pursuit, parks, exits his vehicle and approaches Porter. The two speak and begin to circle each other before McFall grabs Porter and slams her against the wall. More police vehicles arrive — at least three are visible in the video — and Porter is handcuffed and moved into one of the cars, surrounded by multiple officers.
In a subsequent interview this Wednesday, Porter said McFall asked her for her ID and she reached into her purse to retrieve it. As she attempted to do so, McFall told her to remove her hand from her purse; soon after, he pushed her against the wall. She recalls being surrounded by a group of three or four more officers as she was being handcuffed.
Porter was released shortly after being taken into custody. She received a citation for resisting arrest. Officer McFall could be seen on video footage telling onlookers that Porter ignored him when he tried to stop her. However, it was later revealed that she was wearing headphones and could not hear him at first.
The officer further claimed Porter did not comply with his commands to show her ID and keep her hands out of her purse, according to Mission Local. “Finally, when she started walking away from me, I had no choice but to put hands on her and make the arrest,” McFall said.
Retired sergeant Carl Tennenbaum told Mission Local that the level of force was a “disproportionate response to a petty infraction.”