Former Rams receiver, Poly alum alleges racial profiling after arrest at Ralphs

Long Beach Poly alum and retired Los Angeles Rams wide receiver DeSean Jackson is suing Los Angeles County and Ralphs Grocery Co., alleging his civil rights were violated when he was wrongfully arrested by a deputy sheriff in 2023 at a Ralphs store in Marina del Rey in connection with a car theft.

Jackson also alleges negligence and false imprisonment. He seeks unspecified damages in the Los Angeles Superior Court suit brought Friday.

“Defendant Ralphs has a history of racially profiling African-American men as they shop in the store in violation of their civil rights,” the suit alleges.

Representatives for the county and Ralphs could not be immediately reached for comment.

Jackson, now 37, went to the Ralphs store on Lincoln Boulevard on June 25, 2023, at about 6:30 p.m. and was grocery shopping when he was arrested by a deputy, who told the plaintiff his detention was “connected with a guy stealing from the store,” the suit states.

Jackson was handcuffed and not read his rights before being placed in a patrol car in pain and later taken to a sheriff’s station and kept there for several hours, the suit states.

A Ralphs security guard knew the deputy was arresting the wrong person because the guard had a photo of the actual car theft suspect — whose only similarity to Jackson was that he also was Black — yet the guard did not intervene with the plaintiff being taken into custody, the suit states.

Jackson believes that due to “implicit bias”’ the deputy and Ralphs “assumed Mr. Jackson presented a serious threat to someone’s safety, and then falsely accused him of being a criminal,” according to the suit, which further states that Jackson has sought treatment from medical doctors as well as from psychologists for his emotional distress.

Jackson was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round of the 2008 NFL draft following a college career at California and also played for the Rams, Washington Redskins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Las Vegas Raiders and Baltimore Ravens during a 15-season NFL career that ended in 2022.

The former Long Beach Poly High standout was selected to the Pro Bowl three times and was the first player selected for the game at two positions in the season when he was selected to the 2010 Pro Bowl as a wide receiver and return specialist.

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