Deputies cleared: Taser death decision likely trailed by lawsuit, pledge to use medical equipment

By attempting to detain Okobi for a vehicle code violation, attempting to de-escalate the incident before arresting him, using non-lethal force to subdue Okobi and requesting medical assistance, Wagstaffe said he found the deputies’ actions were consistent of those of trained and reasonable peace officers. Identified as John DeMartini, Alyssa Lorenzatti, Joshua Wang, Bryan Watt and Sgt. David Weidner, the deputies involved in the incident have not been on patrol since the incident and have instead been assisting with the transport of inmates between jail and the courts.

Wagstaffe said there is no way of looking at the incident — which his report describes as starting when Wang asked Okobi to “hold up a minute” after he observed the man walking across El Camino Real against a red light at Millwood Drive — without seeing its tragic nature.

“We have nothing but sorrow for them,” he said, of the Okobi family. “But my conclusion stands very firmly that these deputies’ conduct was lawful under California law.”

The conclusion of the monthslong investigation was a source of disappointment for Okobi’s sister Ebele Okobi, who didn’t feel the reports offered a sufficient explanation for why her brother was stopped by deputies that day or any indication Wagstaffe was concerned about the extent to which Tasers have been a cause of death.

“There was no probable cause to stop him, there was no reason to arrest him,” she said of her brother. “He was stopped for nothing.”

According to the 13-page letter Wagstaffe addressed to Sheriff Carlos Bolanos, Wang attempted a pedestrian stop on Okobi after he walked across El Camino Real against a red light and where there wasn’t a crosswalk. Okobi then walked behind Wang’s vehicle and back across El Camino Real and crossed the street at least three more times as Wang called for backup, according to the letter.

Okobi ignored another request from Wang to talk on the sidewalk and Lorenzatti, in response to Wang’s call, approached Okobi on foot on the west sidewalk. Soon joined by DeMartini, the deputies were unable to detain Okobi through control holds, leading Wang to grow concerned physical control would not be effective in arresting Okobi and draw his Taser, according to the letter.

Wang warned Okobi he would be hit with a Taser if he did not comply with the deputies and deployed the weapon when Okobi moved toward him, hitting him two other times with each activation lasting no more than five seconds and some nine to 10 seconds apart, said Wagstaffe.

Okobi is heard on a 30-minute video Wagstaffe released Friday — alongside reports from an independent “use of force” expert, a pathologist and the District Attorney’s Office’s Bureau of Investigation — asking what he did and writhing in pain. He was eventually able to stand and punched Wang before deputies were able to handcuff him after deploying pepper spray. Weidner, who responded to the scene later, directed deputies to roll Okobi on his side and into a seated position out of concern for positional asphyxia, said Wagstaffe.

As reported by Bay City News, John Burris, an attorney for Okobi’s family, insisted Friday on a moratorium on Taser use in San Mateo County, claiming the weapon was a substantial factor in Okobi’s death. He also questioned why the deputies used a Taser quickly in the confrontation with Okobi since the Sheriff’s Office policy calls for deputies to only use Tasers as the last step before resorting to deadly force and also why they treated him as if he were on drugs.

A toxicology report showed Okobi had no drugs, medication or alcohol in his body when he died and an autopsy found Okobi had an enlarged heart and died from cardiac arrest following physical exertion, physical restraint and recent electro-muscular disruption.

Okobi’s death was the third in San Mateo County involving law enforcement officers’ use of Tasers in less than a year. Wagstaffe previously declined to file criminal charges against three Daly City police officers involved in a struggle with 34-year-old Warren Ragudo, who died Jan. 16, 2018, after a Taser was deployed. Four Redwood City police officers who attempted to subdue 55-year-old Ramzi Saad Aug. 13 after he pushed his 83-year-old mother to the ground were also cleared of charges in his death following multiple deployments of a Taser.

Initial reports

In a press release following Wagstaffe’s announcement, the Sheriff’s Office acknowledged that some previously questioned the content of the office’s initial release on the incident, which stated deputies contacted an adult male running in and out of traffic on the 1300 block of El Camino Real and the suspect immediately assaulted the deputy as he exited the vehicle.

The initial news release reflected an understanding of the incident at its early stages before an investigation was done, noted the Friday release, which added the Sheriff’s Office is now aware Okobi initially resisted deputies’ attempts to detain him and later struck one of the deputies in the face.

“It is always a tragedy anytime there is a loss of life. It is never something we in law enforcement want to have happen,” Bolanos said in the release. “Our hearts go out to Chinedu Okobi and his family as well as everyone affected by this terrible situation.”

Having logged a high volume of pedestrian-related collisions in recent years, the stretch of El Camino Real where the incident took place was an area of concern for Millbrae residents and deputies patrolling the city, noted Wagstaffe. The Sheriff’s Office maintained that the deputies involved in the incident attempted to de-escalate the situation and reassure Okobi several times, according to the release.

The Sheriff’s Office also noted paramedics were called to the scene before Okobi was detained and medics were treating him before he went into cardiac arrest, but pledged to equip patrol cars with AEDs and update the office’s use of force policy to further emphasize de-escalation, according to the release.

‘Do we consider this justice?’

Though she acknowledged the difficulty her family has endured, Ebele Okobi said the implications of the incident and county officials’ review of her brother’s death are not just issues for her family but rather for all citizens of San Mateo County, noting it’s up to them to consider whether they are content with the Wagstaffe’s decision not to hold the deputies accountable.

Ebele Okobi looked to supervisors’ review of Taser use in February as a first step that is only meaningful if other steps are taken, noting in a perfect world there would be some soul-searching and review of current policy following three deaths involving Tasers. She also added an external review board to examine what happens when policies aren’t followed could be another way law enforcement officers could be held responsible.

“The question for San Mateo [County] is do we consider this justice?” she said. “Are the citizens of San Mateo County happy with this? Does this to them represent justice? They have the power to change it.”

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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