California Policeman accused of raping transgender woman while on duty

A El Monte police officer has been placed on administrative while being investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for allegedly stopping a transgender woman on the street and raping her.

A transgender woman is alleging in a federal lawsuit that a uniformed El Monte, Calif. police officer detained her without legal cause and raped her on his patrol car in a dark and empty parking lot.

The officer was in a marked patrol car and ordered the woman into an alley behind a business at Central and Garvey avenues, where he attacked her, the lawsuit said.

She later retrieved a condom he used and turned it over to authorities, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit, filed Oct. 18, names as defendants the city of El Monte and an unnamed police officer, seeking unspecified monetary damages.

The plaintiff, who used the pseudonym "Jane Roe" in court documents, alleges the attack happened early Oct. 23, 2012.

Source NBC Los Angeles and LA Times.