A woman suffering from mental illness says Sandoval County Sheriff's deputies roughed her up and falsely arrested her for child abuse.
Attorneys for Kari Mantilla say in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court that deputies entered her Rio Rancho home without a warrant in April 2013 and arrested for child abuse after concluding her house was a mess. The lawsuit say deputies were there to serve an order to appear for domestic violence.
Court documents say a deputy slammed Mantilla onto the pavement causing her to suffer head injuries.
An attorney for the county denied the allegations.
The child abuse charge was later dismissed.
This is the second federal lawsuit filed this month against Sandoval County over treatment of detainees suffering from mental illness.
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