Family, authorities differ over Taser death

That day, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office released a statement claiming man, later identified as 36-year-old Chinedu Okobi, was “running in and out of traffic” on the 1300 block of El Camino Real in Millbrae at 1 p.m., and assaulted a deputy. A struggle between Okobi and additional law enforcement ensued, and he was taken to a hospital “where it was later learned that he died,” according to the statement.

But much of that account did not actually happen, according to a Facebook post published Sunday by sister and Facebook executive Ebele Okobi.

“[The videos] were shocking because they contradicted, in every single particular, the statement that the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office released and to which San Mateo District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe referred in multiple news outlets after my brother’s murder,” she wrote in the post.

The videos have not yet been released to the public. Wagstaffe said the Okobi family saw about 25 to 30 minutes of footage that contained interactions between Chinedu Okobi and police. Hours of video surrounding the incident were recorded that day.   

“The family asked to see the video and I recognized they’d be traveling and I accommodated them, which I’ve never done before until after the investigation,” Wagstaffe said.

Ebele Okobi said video shows her brother walking calmly down the sidewalk and not in the street, dressed normally and he “doesn’t look disheveled or as if he’s in crisis” when a deputy approached him. Wagstaffe confirmed that the interaction began because of a physical observation and not a 911 call.

According to the post, the deputy first drove alongside Chinedu Okobi and asked what he was doing and said he needed to question him. Chinedu Okobi then quietly said something inaudible, walked to the intersection and crossed the street, his sister wrote. At that point, the deputy called for backup, which arrived shortly thereafter, and a struggle ensued, according to the post.

Ebele Okobi went on to write that her brother never assaulted anyone and actually died on the scene — not on the way to or at a hospital — after deputies hit him with a Taser multiple times, struck him with a baton and deployed pepper spray. At one point, she wrote, Chinedu Okobi tried to run away when deputies chased him, hit him with a Taser again and did not attempt to revive him.

Ebele Okobi added that “at no point” was the first responding deputy in danger.

It has also been suggested throughout the investigation that Chinedu Okobi’s mental health played a role in the incident, but Ebele Okobi wrote in the post that she now believes, after seeing the videos, that mental illness was not a factor in the events that led to her brother’s death.

“I knew that my brother didn’t ‘attack’ or ‘assault’ deputies, but because of his mental illness, I believed it was possible that he might have been in crisis and acting erratically,” she wrote. “None of that would have justified him being killed, but there isn’t even a reason, at all, that my brother was stopped. My brother’s medical history has nothing at all to do with why he was stopped and killed.” 

The family has been calling for videos of the incident to be publicly released, and Ebele Okobi in her post suggested officials are breaking the law by not releasing them now. If any involved officers have a history of misconduct, she wants that information made public as well, and is calling for an independent investigation, a permanent independent police review body and a moratorium on the use of Tasers.

Wagstaffe said all videos, police and coroner’s reports and other information relevant to the case will be released once the investigation is complete, likely by mid-December, and that no law compels him to do so any sooner.

“I’m doing this faster than any county does in the state of California,” he said. “During my eight years as district attorney, we always get it done in about 10 weeks.”

He also said releasing any information included in the responding officers’ personnel files would be illegal. As for an independent investigation, Wagstaffe said his office isn’t going to drop the case and turn it over to a separate entity, adding that if the Okobi family disagrees with his decision on the case, then they are free to request a review by another agency like the state attorney general.

Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Rosemerry Blankswade said in an email statement that her department also wants the videos released to the public as soon as possible, adding that there may still be witnesses to interview and the material could influence the independent recollection of those witnesses.

“It is always a tragedy anytime there is a loss of life. It is never something we in law enforcement ever want to have happen,” Blankswade said in the email. “Our hearts go out to Chinedu Okobi’s family as well as everyone affected by this terrible situation. We realize that nothing we can say or do will bring back Chinedu Okobi.”

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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