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San Mateo County Sheriff's Officers Won't Face Charges for Fatal Arrest of Unarmed Man

The family of Chinedu Okobi say that they intend to file a civil suit.
Julie Small
04:18
Chinedu Valentine Okobi, in a photo posted to his Facebook page. (Facebook)

A San Mateo County sheriff’s sergeant and four deputies will not face criminal prosecution for killing an unarmed African-American man in Millbrae on Oct. 3.

District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe announced the findings of an investigation Friday into the death of 36-year-old Chinedu Okobi, nearly five months after the fatal encounter.

"It is a sad, tragic event," Wagstaffe said at a press conference.

Okobi’s family received the report on Thursday.

"This is an example of a person who is dead, who should not be, based upon the seemingly over-aggressiveness on the part of police officers," said the family's attorney, John Burris.

"Police initiated this conversation, the contact, used force, used their billy clubs, pepper spray and they used a Taser a number of times — all of which contributed to his death."

Read More on KQED's coverage

Okobi, a resident of Redwood City, was reportedly “running in and out of traffic” on a busy street around 1 p.m., according to an Oct. 3 press release from the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, when a deputy tried to make contact with him. The press release stated that Okobi “immediately assaulted the deputy,” who then called for backup. More law enforcement officers arrived as the struggle with Okobi continued. After Okobi was arrested, he was taken to the hospital where he was later declared dead.

The district attorney’s investigation determined that during the struggle, Deputy Joshua Wang fired his taser seven times and struck Okobi three times.

The forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy, Thomas W. Rogers, said Okobi died of a heart attack and listed electrocution by Taser as a contributing factor. Rogers determined the death was a homicide.

The other officers involved in Okobi’s arrest are John DeMartini, Alyssa Lorenzatti, Bryan Watt and Sgt. David Weidner.

They are all back at work, according to Public Information Officer Rosemerry Blankswade.

“I’ve said this before—I think that the use of the taser needs to be studied," said San Mateo District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe. (Olivia Obineme/KQED)

Evidence Considered

San Mateo County sheriff's officers do not wear body cameras, but their vehicles are equipped with dashboard cameras. The district attorney's office collected that footage, along with cell phone video taken by witnesses and security camera footage from businesses. As part of the investigation, staff also interviewed the five officers who were involved in Okobi’s arrest and all of the civilian witnesses.

District Attorney Wagstaffe also consulted a use of force expert, John Martin, a former San Jose police sergeant and taser trainer. Martin concluded that Wang's attempt to detain Okobi and the firing of his taser "was consistent with that of a trained and reasonable officer facing similar circumstances."

"Okobi continued to struggle, including thrust kicking his leg at Deputy DeMartini, attempting to remove the probes, continuing to ignore commands and warnings, and returning to his feet. Mr. Okobi had clearly defeated and/or overpowered the deputies’ collective and individual efforts to use low- and intermediate-level force options," the report stated.

Controversy Over Video Footage

The district attorney's office posted the footage of Chinedu Okobi’s arrest on the county website.

Wagstaffe said that footage is the same as what Okobi’s family saw in November, but arranged in chronological order.

The family has said the video footage they saw contradicts the sheriff's office's account of what happened.

"All of the original coverage was that my brother was running wildly through the street, he was darting in and out of traffic," Okobi’s sister, Ebele, said in a recent interview. "But what we saw is my brother walking on the sidewalk."

According to Ebele, the dashboard camera video of the initial encounter shows the deputies pulled their vehicle up next to him and asked what he was doing. Okobi said something to the deputies that was inaudible, then walked across the street. Deputies drove after him, as they called for emergency backup.

Ebele says the footage also refutes the description of her brother’s behavior during the arrest.

"When he was stopped, there was no assault at all, and when they tase him there's no assault," she said.

Ebele Okobi, sister of Chinedu Okobi, says dashboard camera footage refutes the description of her brother’s behavior during the arrest.
Ebele Okobi, sister of Chinedu Okobi, says dashboard camera footage refutes the description of her brother’s behavior during the arrest. (Julie Small/KQED)

According to her, the footage from the sheriff’s vehicle showed deputies screeching to a halt in front of Okobi, rushing out of their vehicle, lunging at him and immediately tasing him. The 330-pound man then dropped to the ground screaming.

"The whole thing seems strange to me. Why you would tase someone who didn't represent a physical threat and wasn't doing anything?"

Other sheriff’s deputies arrived and a chaotic scene ensued, with deputies shouting at Okobi to turn over on his stomach, while Okobi cried, "What did I do? Someone please help me!"

"They were so afraid of an unarmed bystander that they had to use the kind of force that turned out to be lethal. But they expect the person who's being attacked to be completely calm and understand," Ebele said.

Civil rights attorney John Burris said he intends to file a civil lawsuit on behalf of the Okobi family in federal court in the near future.

"The most significant thing to me is that Okobi was a very healthy man at the time, he was not under any influence of any drugs, legal or otherwise," Burris said. "And there's some real questions about the basis for the initial stop, related to why they were using force when they were."

Attorney John Burris speaks to members of the press in his office on March 1, 2019.
Attorney John Burris speaks to members of the press in his office on March 1, 2019. (Olivia Obineme/KQED)

Did Deputies Administer Life-Saving Measures?

Okobi’s family also takes issue with the sheriff’s office's accounting of when he died. The press release reported that the suspect was taken into custody, sent to the hospital and later declared dead.

The county coroner recorded the time of death as 2:17 p.m. based on hospital records.

But Ebele believes the video footage actually captured the moment of her brother’s death.

"They’re on top of him and he's on the ground and they're saying 'Stay on him! Stay on him! Stay on him! Stay on him!'" Ebele said. "Then all of a sudden, 'It's a crime scene.' And then you can hear them say, 'OK, we need crime scene tape.'"

Ebele said they propped up her brother with his head hanging forward.

"Nobody tried to revive him. There was no CPR, nothing," she said. "They treated him like a dog."

Okobi graduated with a degree in business administration from Atlanta's Morehouse College. His family said he began to experience mental illness in 2009, but held a series of jobs, including working as a truck driver for Home Depot until January 2018. They said he paid child support for his 12-year-old daughter from an unemployment check the day before he died.

Tasers Deployed Despite Warnings of Risk to Mentally Ill

Okobi was the third person with a mental illness to die in San Mateo in 2018 after being tased by a law enforcement officer, despite warnings from the weapon's manufacturer that people with mental illness are at greater risk of sudden death.

Warren Ragudo died in during a struggle with Daly City police Jan. 16. The 34-year-old had been diagnosed with bipolar, depression and schizophrenia. His family called 9-1-1 for help when he tried to jump out of a second-story window, according to the district attorney's investigation of that incident. When police arrived, family was holding him down. When officers took over, Ragudo continued to struggle and one officer shocked him with a taser. His family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court.

Taser-Related Deaths Investigated

Ramzi Saad, a 55-year-old man with schizophrenia, died Aug. 13 after being tased by a Redwood City police officer. The district attorney's report there says Saad shoved his mother, knocking her over, and later tried to slug the responding officer.

In both cases, the district attorneys determined the police officers involved were also justified in using force.

A fourth man, Kyle Hart, died Dec. 10 after Redwood City police tased and then shot him. Officers said he charged at them with a butcher's knife. Hart's wife had told dispatch that her 33-year-old husband was suicidal. The incident is still under investigation.

Public Demand for New Taser Use Policy

Okobi’s family initially thought he may have been in psychological distress at the time of his arrest, but after viewing the video footage compilation, Ebele said there’s not evidence of that.

"His mental illness had actually absolutely nothing to do with why he was stopped," Ebele said. "All you saw was a man walking down the street. The only difference is that he happened to be black."

Some advocates in San Mateo called for a moratorium on taser use at a public information forum Feb. 11. They also urged the Board of Supervisors to use their "power of the purse" over the Sheriff's Office to press for less dangerous options for subduing subjects.

Before the meeting Ebele said it was important for the community to get involved.

"The more the community knows about this the more they can prevent this in the future because at this point now, no matter what we find out, it will never bring him back," she said. "It's over for us, but it's not over for other people."

Lisa Pickoff-White contributed to this report.

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