Jensen v. City of Thousand Oaks CA2/6

Filed 9/25/13 Jensen v. City of Thousand Oaks CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SIX

LINDA JENSEN, 2d Civil No. B245880 (Super. Ct. No. 56-2011-00406324- Plaintiff and Appellant, CU-MC-VTA) (Ventura County) v.

CITY OF THOUSAND OAKS et al.,

Defendants and Respondents.

Allende v. Department of California Highway Patrol (2011) 201 Cal.App.4th 1006 holds that "drivers must pay for any incident in which [a] CHP officer is dispatched and makes a DUI arrest; [and] cost of officers' fringe benefits is part of payable expense of emergency response . . . ." Plaintiff Linda Jensen invites us to disagree with Allende. We decline the invitation. Jensen appeals a judgment of dismissal after the trial court sustained demurrers without leave to amend to her class action complaint for injunctive relief, declaratory relief and damages against defendants City of Thousand Oaks (City) and the Ventura County Sheriff's Department (Sheriff's Department). Jensen was arrested for driving while intoxicated after the Sheriff's Department received a dispatch call from a person reporting that she was drunk while driving. After her arrest, the City sent her an

invoice "demanding payment" for a "DUI-Emergency Response Charge." (Gov. Code, § 53150.)1 We conclude, among other things, that: 1) pursuant to section 53150, Jensen's conduct caused an "incident resulting in an appropriate emergency response" by the Sheriff's Department even though she was not involved in a traffic accident; and 2) Jensen was therefore liable for the "expense of an emergency response," which includes the sheriff deputies' salary and employee benefit costs. (§ 53156.) We affirm. FACTS On January 28, 2011, a caller telephoned the Sheriff's Department to report "a possible drunk driver in the City of Thousand Oaks." Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the location the caller described. They saw the vehicle matching the description given in the dispatch call. Jensen was the driver. Sheriff deputies stopped her and arrested her for driving under the influence (DUI). She was "taken to jail where she was booked." On April 21, 2011, the City sent Jensen a letter with an "invoice demanding payment in the amount of $777.60 for a 'DUI-Emergency Response Charge'" relating to the January 28th incident. The City cited section 53150. The invoice included "a per minute rate of $2.40 or $144.00 per hour for the emergency response services charged for" the sheriff deputies' time on the January 28th incident. That rate included "deputy fringe benefit costs in addition to the regular salary of the deputies." Jensen paid the amount on the invoice and filed a government claim with the City seeking reimbursement for that payment. On November 3, 2011, Jensen filed a "CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE AND DECLARATORY RELIEF, UNJUST ENRICHMENT, [AND] MONEY HAD AND RECEIVED" against the City. On June 4, 2012, she filed a first amended complaint and added the Sheriff's Department as a defendant. In her action, she requested, among other things, an injunction against the Sheriff's Department