Claremont pays nearly $3 million to woman who accused police officer of sexual assault

‘It’s a horrible thing she went through,’ the woman’s attorney said of the alleged on-duty assault by an officer who has since resigned

By Tony Saavedra | tsaavedra@scng.com | Orange County Register

UPDATED: June 27, 2025 at 3:43 PM PDT

The city of Claremont has paid nearly $3 million to settle a federal lawsuit alleging an on-duty police officer sexually assaulted a woman in the parking lot of the Montclair Transit Center.

The settlement follows the arrest in March of former Claremont Officer Gabriel Arellanes on one count of forcible oral copulation that could land him in prison for a maximum eight years if convicted. The 39-year-old plaintiff, identified in her lawsuit as “Jane Doe,” accepted $2.9 million from the city to drop her civil case.

“It’s a horrible thing she went through,” said her attorney, Jerry Steering. “It was a reasonable amount of money to allow her to put an end to having to deal with this.”

An attorney for the city and Arellanes’ lawyer in the civil case did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Arellanes, who was hired in 2022, resigned in January after he was placed on leave months earlier.

The suit said Doe and the father of her children were “engaged in romantic activities” in the back seat of a car on Mount Baldy Road in Claremont shortly before midnight on Feb. 16, 2024. Arellanes approached, noticed a glass pipe inside the car and ordered the couple to get dressed and get out.

Arellanes handcuffed Doe and arrested her on suspicion of possession of a methamphetamine pipe, leaving her companion — and the pipe — behind, Steering said.

Doe was taken to the Pomona Police Department to be searched by a female officer, since none was available at the Claremont station, Steering said.

On the way there, Arellanes allegedly stopped the patrol car several times, pressed Jane Doe’s handcuffed body against the side of the car with his body and frisked her in a “sexually assaultive” manner, according to the lawsuit. When they arrived at the Pomona police station, Arellanes allegedly asked her to perform oral sex on him, but she refused, the lawsuit stated.

Jane Doe then was taken to the Claremont Police Department for booking.

While in the holding cell at the Claremont police station, Arellanes gave Jane Doe a cup of water, the lawsuit alleged, and she became disoriented.

Doe was cited and released. When she left the Claremont police station, Arellanes offered her a ride to the transit center and, without a car or money, Doe reluctantly accepted, according to the lawsuit. Arellanes drove her to a remote area of the transit center parking lot and forced her to orally copulate him before leaving her there, according to the lawsuit.

As part of the investigation, Doe gave San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department investigators a piece of Arellanes’ clothing with semen on it and a note he had written to her with his phone number on it, Steering said.

Steering lauded Claremont officials for referring the case to the Sheriff’s Department and settling the lawsuit.

“These days most police agencies do not act with such decency,” Steering said.

Claremont pays nearly $3 million to woman who accused police officer of sexual assault – San Bernardino Sun