California police officers who pinned man to the ground during fatal arrest won't be charged
The officers who pinned a man to the ground last year during an arrest that ended in his death at a northern California park will not face criminal charges, according to a report from the Alameda County district attorney's office.
The 40-page report, filed March 30 but made public Thursday, concluded that the three officers were "lawful and objectively reasonable" when they approached and arrested Mario Gonzalez, 26, last April.
"The evidence does not support criminal charges being filed against any law enforcement official related to this incident," the report said.
In a statement to Paste BN, Alison Berry Wilkinson, the attorney representing the officers, said, "The officers are grateful the district attorney recognized that this tragic death was an unintended consequence of their legitimate and lawful actions."
Julia Sherwin, an attorney representing Gonzalez's family, called the decision "shameful."
"We are not surprised the District Attorney failed to bring criminal charges against the officers who killed Mario, because it remains extremely rare in this country that police are ever prosecuted for killing unarmed men of color," she said in the statement.
Sherwin added that Gonzalez was the father of a 5-year-old son, whose mother, Andrea Cortez, "remains committed to getting justice."
Adante Pointer, another attorney representing Gonzalez's family, said in a statement to Paste BN that the family would continue to pursue "the justice they deserve" through a federal civil rights lawsuit.
"It is a sad day when political expediency and obvious conflicts of interest seemingly outweigh the principles of equal justice under the law as it has in the death Mario Gonzalez and far too many other men, women and children killed by police," Pointer said.
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Police responded to a park in Alameda, California, two miles south of Oakland, in April 2021 after they received reports that a man was acting strangely and appeared to be breaking security tags off alcohol bottles at a drugstore.
Officers found Gonzalez, who they said was acting strangely and appeared to be intoxicated. Body camera footage released last year by the Alameda Police Department showed officers struggle to restrain Gonzalez before pinning him facedown on the ground for more than five minutes. Gonzalez lost consciousness during the struggle with police and later died.
A coroner classified Gonzalez's death as a homicide, but listed the toxic effects of methamphetamine as the primary cause of death. The autopsy found Gonzalez had no lethal injuries, but “the stress of altercation and restraint," as well as health problems, including obesity, an enlarged heart and methamphetamine in his system may have contributed to his death.
"The coroner determined Mario's death was a homicide — death at the hands of another," Sherwin said. "The only people who could determine that the officers are 'not criminally liable' for that homicide are the jurors in a criminal case. Why not bring criminal charges and let the jury decide the case?"
The officers involved said Gonzalez's actions, including putting his hands in his pockets when directed not to, "caused them concern for their personal safety," according to the report.
The report also states that officers "repeatedly attempted" to de-escalate the situation and never escalated use of force to striking Gonzalez, using chokeholds or putting pressure on his neck. Still, the report said Gonzalez "physically resisted their efforts the entire time until he ultimately became unresponsive."
The officers remain on paid administrative leave pending a city-commissioned independent investigation, the City of Alameda told KTVU-TV on Thursday.
Contributing: The Associated Press
Contact News Now Reporter Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.