LOS ANGELES — A federal civil rights lawsuit alleging excessive force by Los Angeles police during the 2020 Dodgers World Series celebration is set to go to trial April 7, nearly six years after a rubber bullet struck a 22-year-old college student in the eye, leaving him with permanent vision loss.
The case, filed by Isaac Castellanos against the City of Los Angeles and several Los Angeles Police Department officers, centers on what attorneys describe as an unjustified use of so-called “less lethal” munitions against a largely peaceful crowd gathered in downtown Los Angeles following the Dodgers’ championship victory.
“We’re going to trial April 7th against the city of LA,” said attorney Pedram Esfandiary. “We’re suing the city as well as two officers involved in the use of force against my client, Isaac, Mr. Castellanos back in 2020 when the Dodgers celebrations happened downtown.”
According to the complaint, Castellanos and others had gathered near what is now Crypto.com Arena to celebrate the Dodgers’ 2020 World Series win when LAPD officers deployed less lethal projectiles into the crowd.
Esfandiary said his client was leaving the area when he was struck.
“Isaac was leaving the area around Hope and 11th Street a little after midnight on October 28th, 2020 when as he was leaving, he turns around and takes a rubber bullet to the eye, fired by the LAPD and tragically loses central vision in that eye, in the right eye forever,” he said.
The lawsuit alleges that the use of force was unnecessary and unconstitutional.
“So our allegations in the lawsuit are that they should not have fired at all at that intersection because there was no need to,” Esfandiary said. “There was no immediate threat of harm posed by the crowd, certainly not Isaac or any of his friends.”
The complaint similarly characterizes the incident as an “unlawful use of force” that resulted in “severe permanent injury to his right eye” during what it describes as a peaceful gathering.
Castellanos, who was a student at California State University, Long Beach, at the time, said the injury has had lasting physical and psychological effects.
“It’s a lot different,” Castellanos said. “I mean, this happened when I was in my third year of college, Long Beach State.”
He described how the injury disrupted his education and future plans.
“I still had a year and a half of school that was hard. I almost thought about dropping out,” he said. “And since then, it’s been five years. The case is dragged on now and it’s just affecting … it kind of put my life on hold.”
Medical specialists later determined that his vision loss is permanent.
“So the doctors have told me, all the specialists have seen that I won’t be able to read a book basically,” Castellanos said. “If I close my good eye, I can’t see … it’s completely black in the middle of my vision.”
He also described lasting issues with depth perception and coordination.
“My depth of perception is just very off,” he said. “If someone tosses me a pencil or something, or I’m always dropping stuff, or I see two or three of everything sometimes.”
The lawsuit alleges multiple constitutional violations, including excessive force under the Fourth Amendment and violations of free speech and assembly rights.
Esfandiary described the case as straightforward.
“It’s a straightforward, simple case. It’s clean cut,” he said, adding that it does not involve a situation where officers were responding to an immediate threat.
The attorney also said the case has taken years to reach trial due to delays in the court system and difficulties obtaining evidence.
“That is the reality of the court system that we have sometimes,” Esfandiary said. “Sometimes cases take a long time to sneak their way through the court system.”
He added that the city has contributed to delays.
“They have been putting up roadblocks and barriers,” he said.
Settlement discussions have not been successful, according to Esfandiary.
“We just haven’t heard a number from the city that would compensate, fairly compensate Isaac for what he’s gone through and what he will go through for the rest of his life,” he said.
Castellanos recounted the moment he was shot, describing a chaotic scene with no warning from police.
“And out of nowhere, a cop car came out down the street in the dark and just started chasing the group down,” he said. “There was no calls of disbursement then or prior. And they fired into the crowd and I was hit and it was excruciating pain.”
The complaint similarly alleges that no dispersal order was given and that Castellanos did not pose a threat at the time he was shot.
Castellanos said the incident has also had lasting emotional effects.
“It’s kind of like a living nightmare now,” he said. “It’s a lot of different things have affected me mentally now.”
Despite the trauma, he described himself as someone who tries to remain positive.
“I’m someone who always chooses love,” Castellanos said.
The lawsuit also alleges broader systemic issues within the LAPD, including a pattern of using less lethal munitions in crowd control situations and inadequate training and supervision of officers.
Esfandiary said the case is part of a larger pattern.
“That’s right. And unfortunately, it’s a pattern and practice that we’ve seen from the LAPD,” he said.
He emphasized that the incident did not occur during a protest but during a public celebration.
“This was not a protest where people were out on a political cause,” he said. “It was a bunch of people celebrating on a public sidewalk and people are leaving and this happens.”
The case is scheduled to be heard in federal court in downtown Los Angeles.
“As I said, we opened April 7th in front of Judge Wright, downtown LA Federal Courthouse, and we look forward to presenting the case to the jury,” Esfandiary said.
Castellanos said he hopes the trial will bring accountability.
The outcome of the case could have broader implications for police use-of-force policies, particularly regarding the deployment of less lethal weapons in crowd-control situations.
