Although the San Bernardino County Sheriff's department maintains that the encounter began when Kephart ran a stop sign, the suit says the encounter began when Kephart honked at Deputy Ismael Diaz after Diaz pulled in front of Kephart at an intersection. According to the suit, Diaz was angered and turned on his police vehicle lights attempting to pull Kephart over.
The suit names the County of San Bernardino, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, Deputy Ismael Diaz, Deputy Michael Gardea and Sergeant Bryan Lane as defendants.