Evaluation of deadly Pleasanton police capturing finds officers can’t be held criminally liable

OAKLAND — A pair of Pleasanton cops can’t be held criminally accountable for fatally capturing a 33-year-old San Jose man greater than two years in the past, Alameda County District Lawyer Pamela Worth introduced Thursday on her last day in workplace.

The police killing was one among six Worth got down to re-examine together with her Public Accountability Unit, or PAU.

On Feb. 17, 2022, Officers Mario Guillermo and Brian Jewell shot and killed Cody Chavez whereas responding to a home violence name within the 4800 block of Willow Highway.

The PAU reviewed former DA Nancy O’Malley’s report on the case, police division insurance policies and case file supplies, together with body-worn digicam footage, investigative reviews and witness statements, in line with the district legal professional’s workplace.

There have been, nonetheless, “lessons to be learned” from the police division’s actions, prosecutors mentioned.

In accordance with the district legal professional’s workplace, the police division despatched no less than 19 officers with “militarized equipment” to arrest a suspect in a home violence incident that occurred 12 hours earlier.

Police knew Chavez posed no imminent menace to the sufferer, was alone, unarmed, probably inebriated and experiencing psychological well being points, prosecutors mentioned.

“These facts point to an unnecessary escalation of force and multiple violations of Pleasanton Police Department policies for mental-health crisis interventions and de-escalation at minimum, and procedures for determining the appropriate level of force necessary to respond to this type of situation,” the district legal professional’s workplace mentioned.

The case evaluation caps Worth’s traditionally brief and troubled tenure as Alameda County’s high prosecutor. Worth, a progressive, was elected on a legal justice reform platform in 2022, however voters soured on her method and backed a measure final month to take away her from workplace. She is each the primary Black girl to carry the put up and the primary elected district legal professional to be faraway from workplace within the county’s historical past.

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