San Bernardino police beat the handcuffed man to the ground, the lawsuit alleges

An 18-year-old woman has filed a lawsuit against the San Bernardino Police Department, accusing officers of assault and violation of her rights.

Erin Marie Cowser alleges that in a lawsuit filed on Friday, a police officer beat her to the ground while she was handcuffed during the May 2025 incident.

Cowser accused the same policeman of causing his face to hit his car which was moving with metal. He said he was badly beaten, lost his memory, and suffered injuries, cuts and blows to his face and body.

“I remember being terrified – and I don’t remember anything,” he said in a written statement. “I woke up hurt, confused, and told things I later learned were not true about what happened to me.”

In the case, Cowser alleges that the police officer and his colleagues lied many times about the use of force that resulted in his injury, a charge the Department denied.

A spokesperson for the San Bernardino Police Department could not be reached for comment. But in a statement released two days after the incident, the Ministry said the policeman was trying to handcuff the boy.

“The officer was only able to put one of his hands in when he started pulling and trying to get out when the take down technique was used,” the statement read.

Toni Jaramilla, Cowser’s attorney, said in a written statement that the police department “failed to correct the false story” even when videos proved the officer was lying.

Jaramilla said that this incident was captured by the cameras of the police officers who were wearing dead bodies and videos of the witnesses.

The case “says that after this incident, the police lied and said that Ms. Cowser’s injuries were caused by other children, they repeated those lies to her family while she was in the hospital and continued to tell the story inside,” said Jaramilla in a statement.

According to the lawsuit, Cowser, who was 17 years old at the time, was with friends at Food 4 Less, located on Rialto Avenue and North E Street in San Bernardino, when a group of youths began assaulting other youths inside.

Cowser was leaving the store when the youth of the group attacked him. The security guard said he saw about 10 youths and used pepper spray to stop the attack on Cowser and another youth, according to the lawsuit.

Soon after, San Bernardino police officers Jackson Tubbs and Cynthia Guillen arrived and saw Cowser walking through the parking lot to talk to a friend.

“Without warning, probable cause, or lawful excuse, [Tubbs] rushed up behind the complainant and without explanation, forcibly grabbed her by her bag, pushing her back and pinning both her arms behind her back,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit alleges that Cowser was never told he was under arrest or given any orders to follow while handcuffed.

At the time, San Bernardino police said Cowser was arrested for running away and attempting to fight with others.

“This arrest follows his arrest earlier that day at a nearby transit center under similar circumstances,” the department’s statement read.

According to the lawsuit, witnesses told police that Cowser was attacked before he arrived and that he did nothing wrong.

“When the plaintiff turned her body to hear what her friend was saying, Officer Tubbs, without warning, threw her hip violently, threw her up and slammed her face into the asphalt with such force that her feet landed on her head like a rabbit doll,” the lawsuit said.

The fall caused Cowser to experience “consciousness and memory loss, a deep open wound under his chin, a large bruise on the left side of his face, and bleeding from the wound,” according to the lawsuit.

The case also states that the police did not provide medical assistance immediately.

The department said in its statement that a supervisor was called to the scene, photos of Cowser’s injuries were taken, and he was taken to a local hospital for examination.

On the way to the hospital, Tubbs called Cowser’s mother, Tanya Brownridge, “and told her that they were taking her daughter to the hospital because she was fighting with other kids and she was getting a little cut. [the] keep fighting [the] face.’ Guillen did not speak to correct him. This lie was captured in a body-worn video,” said the lawsuit.

Erin Cowser, 18, said in her case that she was badly beaten, lost her memory, and suffered injuries including cuts and bruises on her face and body.

(Toni J. Jaramilla)

According to the lawsuit, Cowser suffered “concussion, head injury, severe head injury, facial trauma,” and other injuries.

Jaramilla said in the lawsuit that Cowser had a traumatic experience and continues to suffer “great emotional distress, anxiety, humiliation and loss of joy in life.”