Lawsuit Alleges Excessive Force by Deputy in Sonoma County Death

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The mother of a Petaluma man killed in November after a violent struggle with Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday alleging that the deputy at the center of the case has a well-known “propensity for excessive force.”

Summary cause and manner of death findings released last week showed that David Glen Ward’s Nov. 27 death was the result of heart failure, blunt impact injuries, a neck restraint and being tased during a confrontation with law enforcement.

Ward, 52, led Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies and Sebastopol police on a five-mile car chase after an officer spotted a suspected stolen car. It turned out Ward was driving his own vehicle that he’d just recovered after reporting it stolen.

The chase ended at a dead-end in Bloomfield. Ward raised his hands, then lowered them as deputies shouted commands for him to get out of the vehicle. When the driver’s side door wouldn’t open, Deputy Charles Blount reached in through the window and tried to drag Ward out, who screamed that his legs were pinned under the steering wheel. Both Blount and Deputy Jason Little say Ward is biting them during the struggle. Then Blount grabbed Ward by the head and smashed it into the car door frame as Little shocked him with a Taser.

Officers eventually removed Ward from the passenger side of the car. He stopped breathing and later died. The lawsuit filed Tuesday says Ward had been in a car accident years earlier. He had steel plates in his neck and spine, limited mobility and relied on supplemental oxygen.

The coroner found methamphetamine in Ward’s system, as well as pre-existing physical and mental health conditions.

The lawsuit alleges excessive force, failure to intervene, wrongful death and negligent supervision, among other claims.

Sheriff Mark Essick announced he was moving to fire Blount when the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office made body camera video public late last year. The lawsuit says the sheriff then quietly allowed Blount to retire on Feb. 7. Internal and criminal investigations in the case are ongoing.

Sgt. Juan Valencia, a spokesman for the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office, said his office has not yet received the filing and that it’s their policy not to comment on pending litigation.

Blount's lawyer said he hadn't yet reviewed the lawsuit in detail. Ward's death "was tragic and unfortunate but certainly complicated," attorney Harry Stern wrote in an emailed statement, referencing Ward's "extreme methamphetamine intoxication."

The complaint lists the county, Sheriff Mark Essick and three deputies as defendants, but it focuses largely on Blount’s conduct during the arrest and his history with the Sheriff’s Office.

“It was a common belief among Sheriff’s deputies that Mr. Blount had a propensity for excessive force,” the lawsuit says, “yet department leadership knowing these dangers unconscionably disregarded them.”

The lawsuit alleges that Blount was wearing “gloves with hardened carbon fiber knuckles” during the struggle with Ward, which are illegal to possess in California and are prohibited by Sheriff’s Office policies.

Blount’s repeated use of excessive force, particularly the improper use of neck holds, was known to Sheriff Essick, the lawsuit says. It mentions a 2015 case in which Blount used a neck hold on a woman he suspected of jaywalking and lied about it in court.

The Sheriff’s Office determined Blount’s actions in that case were proper, the lawsuit says, and that he hadn’t been untruthful on the stand, “despite a Superior Court Judge having found his testimony dishonest.”

In another case that same year, Blount allegedly intervened in a struggle between a drunk man and a paramedic, placing the man in a neck hold until he lost consciousness, and then arrested bystanders who protested.

“A firefighter on the scene said that it looked as if Blount felt he had ‘carte blanche to kick anybody’s ass,’ ” the lawsuit says. The complaint does not provide further details on the arrest.

The lawsuit further alleges that Blount’s supervisor raised concerns over the former deputy’s use of neck restraints in early 2019 and recommended retraining. But Blount complained of unfair treatment, according to the lawsuit. Izaak Schwaiger, a civil rights attorney who represents Ward’s mother, declined to offer more information.

“Instead of ordering the retraining requested, Essick began disciplinary proceedings against the supervisor,” the lawsuit says. “It was only a few months later that Blount killed David Ward.

The supervisor is not identified in the complaint, and Schwaiger declined to provide more information on the allegation.