Lipstick Bounty Hunters Sued By Hawthorne Woman
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The so-called "Lipstick Bounty Hunters" of Orange County are being sued by a Hawthorne woman who claims they kicked down the door of her apartment while looking for her fugitive ex-boyfriend.
Shavonna Sutton, 25, filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court Wednesday on behalf of herself and her seven-year-old daughter, Jayla Smith, according to City News Service.
Sutton claims her daughter was traumatized when the Lipstick Bounty Hunters, founded by twins Lisa and Theresa Golt, burst into her home with bounty hunter Chris Alvarez to apprehend fugitive Ricky Lewis on April 20.
Lewis previously dated Sutton and the bounty hunters claimed they had information that the pair was still together. Sutton, however, claims she hadn't spoken to Lewis in more than two years.
Alvarez, who led the search for Lewis, previously said his team tried several times to get Sutton to open the door but she refused, giving them the right to break in.
Sutton claims Alvarez detained her while Roni Alicia Faciane, Lisa Golt and Theresa Golt questioned her daughter.
According to legal filings, the women were "armed with pink guns and video cameras" when they entered her residence.
"Ms. Sutton's and Jayla's emphatic assurances that they had no knowledge of Lewis' whereabouts were met with arrogant, demeaning insults and physical violence," the lawsuit claims.
"In the videos, the bounty hunters are heard trying to extract information from Jayla, while Faciane tells the girl's mother, 'No (N-word) is worth that (expletive).'"
Sutton alleges civil rights violations, assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence.
She is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
Faciane has dismissed the lawsuit as "frivolous" and "malicious", according to CNS, and claims her team was only there to back up Alvarez, who kicked down the door.
The City of Hawthorne is also named in the suit.
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