The detainment of an innocent Black man during a carjacking investigation has prompted a claim against San Rafael and an apology from city officials.

Lawyers for Karl Bracy filed the tort claim after he was pulled over at gunpoint, handcuffed and briefly held last month. The claim was filed Sept. 7.

James Cook, an attorney representing Bracy, said the legal team plans to file a complaint with the city by Nov. 15. A tort claim alleges an act that causes injury or harm as a result of a civil wrong.

Neither Cook nor San Rafael City Attorney Rob Epstein would comment on the specifics of the claim, and the city declined a public records act request for it.

In a statement, Mayor Gary Phillips said, “While I am convinced that our officers handled the incident properly, we are truly sorry that it occurred and regret any negative impact that it had on the individual involved.”

City officials said they have invited Bracy to participate in a “session of healing, mutual understanding and restorative justice,” with a local consultant to facilitate the meeting. The full statement is at bit.ly/2EeIMgA.

“I feel awful for the gentleman,” San Rafael police Chief Diana Bishop said during an interview this week.

“I actually called him to tell him that,” Bishop said. “I can’t imagine what that was like as I’ve never had that experience, and I apologized.”

The incident happened at about 6:15 p.m. Aug. 7 when police received a report of an armed carjacking in front of the Bret Harte Market at 93 Woodland Drive, Bishop said.

The victim reported that two men and a woman, one of them armed with a gun, stole his white Chevrolet Impala. He had recently purchased the car and didn’t know its license plate number, Bishop said.

An officer who spotted a similar vehicle driving downtown got behind it. The vehicle had black wheels and tinted windows, matching those on the victim’s car.

Police stopped the car on Highway 101 near the Interstate 580 onramp. During the stop, officers received information that the victim’s car had stickers on its handles, but the car they stopped did not, Bishop said.

Police handcuffed Bracy and put him in the back of the patrol car while officers searched his vehicle. They checked his identification and saw the car is registered to him.

Officers explained their investigation, apologized for the mistake and released him, Bishop said.

Officers didn’t receive the victim’s license plate until about 10 minutes after the traffic stop was over, Bishop said.

“I obviously dissected the call and the dispatch tapes and the body-worn cameras of the officers involved,” Bishop said.

“No policy, or procedure was violated,” she said. “What happened was, the officers were doing their job, what I would expect them to do, and that is to be inquisitive and to stop the car in the way they were trained. They did nothing wrong.”

Later that night, the carjacking victim’s vehicle was found running and unoccupied in Vallejo. Police are still investigating the case and have made no arrests.

In light of the current climate surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement sparked by the recent police killings of Black people, Bishop said, “I understand the grief and anger,” adding that “we hold life to the highest regard here.”

“It’s tough to see what’s going on,” she said. “All I can do as the chief of this department is lead people in a way that is empathetic and trustworthy. This incident, I wish it hadn’t happened.”

Bishop said the officer could not see how many occupants were in the vehicle, nor did he see the driver’s race or sex.

“There are no racial overtones here,” Bishop said. “The wrong person was stopped and that is the bottom line.”

Bishop, who announced plans last month to retire in December, said the incident wasn’t a factor. Bishop said she didn’t learn about the incident until Sept. 7, when a Facebook post about it was forwarded to her.

The city released the body-camera footage to the public on Friday.

Councilman Andrew McCullough said he felt “a real deep dismay that this kind of incident — no matter how inadvertent — occurred within our jurisdiction.”

“I’m truly hopeful that this effort at restorative justice will go a long way towards helping both sides finding greater understanding and trust,” he said.

Councilman John Gamblin, who is up for re-election this November, agreed: “It’s really tough on all of us to hear this at any time, but even more now.

“It’s a shame that it happened for sure,” Gamblin said. “We could say that we see all sides but we really can’t because we haven’t been in that position.”

Vice Mayor Kate Colin, who is running for mayor, said the incident “just made me heartsick.”

Of the invitation for the restorative justice session, she said, “I don’t know of any other jurisdictions that have looked to use this as a tool and hopefully it will bring some healing and we won’t’ ever have to have this conversation and this incident occur again.”

The invitation has not been accepted or declined, city officials said. Bracy could not be reached for comment.