‘Why Did You Do That to Me?’: California Cops Lied That a Woman Assaulted Them Before Shooting Her in the Back. Now Taxpayers Must Pay
A California woman was awarded a $6.75 million settlement from the Bay Area transit system known as BART after officials made false allegations that she had assaulted an officer who shot her in the back during a traffic stop. Jasmine Gao, 33, was pulled over by two BART police officers on Nov. 18, 2024. The officers were trying to track down a driver who had been doing doughnuts in the parking lot of Union City station, and suspected Gao might have been the culprit. After realizing Gao wasn't the perpetrator, the cops were about to let her go when they discovered her vehicle registration had expired. Jasmine Gao was pulled over by two BART police officers on Nov. 18, 2024. (Photo: Body camera screenshot) Officer Nicholas Poblete asked for Gao's license, registration, and proof of insurance, but bodycam footage showed him growing increasingly agitated with Gao's panicked responses to his questions. The video shows the encounter quickly escalating when Gao snatched her ID back from Poblete, which Poblete tried to grab back, triggering a struggle between the two in which Poblete threatened to pepper-spray Gao. Illegal Kidnapping’: ‘Rogue’ Texas Deputy Lied About Having Warrant to Arrest Black Woman Then Took Her Key and Ransacked Her Home A few moments later, Gao speeds away from the scene, and Poblete immediately pulls his service weapon and fires three shots. One of those shots hit Gao in the back. The video shows the officers pulling Gao from the car and treating her on the scene as blood spills from her gunshot wound. "What did you do to me?!" Gao is heard screaming. "Why did you shoot me?!" The officers say they need to handcuff her, then provide medical aid. "Why did you do that to me?" Gao asks. "We wanna provide you medical aid. You were dragging us from the car!" Poblete answers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?veSGnU9yxT-w&rco1&ab_channelBayAreaRapidTransit In a news release about the incident, BART Police Chief Kevin Franklin said that Gao "is alleged to have assaulted a police officer, which led to one of the officers discharging their firearm." Franklin added that Gao would face several charges, including assault with a deadly weapon on police. In a recent statement about the million-dollar payout to Gao, the transit agency confirmed that their initial report was "not accurate" and that bodycam video revealed that no officer was ever in danger. "Having reviewed the body-worn camera footage, BART acknowledges that Ms. Gao did not assault the officers with a deadly weapon and that she was driving away when Poblete discharged his gun," BART's most updated release states. "BART acknowledges that when Ms. Gao drove away, no officer was being dragged or had any body part stuck in the window of her car when Poblete fired, and that no officer was otherwise endangered by Ms. Gao’s driving of the vehicle," officials wrote. "After completing an administrative investigation of the incident, BART issued a notice of intent to terminate Poblete." Gao's attorney, Ben Nisenbaum, said that the bullet that hit Gao's back passed between her heart and a major artery. Even though she survived her injuries, she lost full use of her left arm. "One thing that was very important for the family and for Jasmine was that BART acknowledged that the initial representations, which painted Jasmine as someone who was an aggressor, someone who was trying to hurt the police, that that was not true," Nisenbaum told KGO. "Even more traumatically was how close she came to dying." BART’s Chief Communications Officer, Alicia Trost, also released a statement about the settlement to Gao. “Our priority is public trust. We immediately placed Nicholas Poblete on leave pending an independent investigation. We engaged Ms. Gao’s attorneys before a lawsuit was filed to work toward an early resolution that brings closure for Ms. Gao and her family while avoiding years of litigation. BART believes resolving this matter promptly is also in the best interest of our riders, employees, and the community.” No criminal charges were ever filed against Gao. BART drew national attention in 2009 after one of its police officers fatally shot Oscar Grant at Fruitvale Station in Oakland, California. Grant was shot in the back after being falsely detained for fighting. The officer who shot him, Johannes Mehserle, claimed that he mistakenly drew his service gun when he intended to draw his Taser. Cellphone footage of the shooting quickly went viral online and triggered a public outcry over police brutality. Mehserle resigned from his position after he was charged with murder. A jury convicted him of involuntary manslaughter, and he spent less than a year in jail. Although the Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation into the shooting, no federal charges were ever filed. BART settled a $50 million lawsuit filed by Grant's family after his death. Grant's daughter, Tatiana, was awarded $1.5 million, and his mother, Wanda Johnson, received $1.3 million.
