A Fox Hills woman said she was awakened, detained at gunpoint and held by a SWAT team and was prosecuting Los Angeles and the city police department, claiming that police were wrongly targeting her house.

The case is the latest in a series of lawsuits against LAPD, accusing civil rights violations in a family attack. According to public records analyzed by The New York Times, the department paid at least 10 settlements until 2018, totaling more than $2 million.

The latest incident occurred around 4 a.m. on November 13 last year, when 48-year-old Danine Dean was alone while her teenage son lived in her father's home, court documents said.

According to her lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles federal court this month, Dean heard an explosion on her door, and she opened and saw an assault rifle pointing at her. She claimed she was escorted outside in her pajamas and barefoot and was detained for more than an hour while the SWAT team searched her home.

In an interview with The Times, Dean said three detectives arrived and told her there was a robbery in the area. They took her back, sat down, and continued searching for her apartment, clearing every drawer and compartment, she recalled.

She said the detective showed her a picture of a young black man and asked if she had seen him. She doesn't know him - but they do have something in common.

"They told me the man's name was Devante Dean and we had the same last name, so it happened to be a coincidence," Dean said. "My last name is not even that rare."

Dean claims that initially investigators asked them if they were relevant - and then they tried another question.

"(Detective) started asking if my son knew him or if he was one of his friends," she said. "Is that because they first thought (Devante Dean) had something to do with me, but now he is my son's friend?"

An hour after Dean's lawsuit, an official told her that the search was a mistake. Her lawsuit says she later visited the local police station to file a complaint about the encounter, but when the department did not follow up, she decided to bring the matter to court.

A spokesperson for the city attorney's office representing LAPD in the case declined to comment, citing a pending lawsuit.

Dean, who works as a psychologist, said she owns her own home for more than 23 years. When she wanted to settle down and start a family with her husband, she said they chose the neighborhood of Fox Mountain in Culver City because it was historically black and they thought it would be a place that would feel safe.

"Growing up in Fullerton, I was the people around me, not necessarily like me," Dean said. "But when I moved to Los Angeles, I wanted to be able to walk down the street and see people who looked like me and my family. It was a huge attraction to the neighborhood."

Dean said she has been on the edge since the incident. Her children have not returned to the house yet and she has lived for 23 years because they are afraid of visiting. She is now considering taking action.

"I don't think I can live here for longer. I've been completely interrupted," Dean said. "It makes me very sad. I think that's all I can say, especially knowing that I've built a lot of memories here with my kids and family."

Dean's lawsuit name Det. Carlos Carrillo was the one who "seemed to be responsible" of the raid that night. He did not respond to the message sent to the department on Tuesday.

Dean and her attorney Ian Wallach said they have not yet accessed the affidavit behind the search warrant, which will clarify the possible reasons the police use to justify their conduct.

"Normally, you have access to the affidavit behind the search warrant. We can't do that," Wallach said. "We called the judges' meeting hall, we went to the clerk's office, we walked around and we still couldn't get to the affidavit, which would say why this happened. The reason I was worried about it was because Danine Dean sounded like Devante Dean."

Times worker Libor Jany contributes To this report.