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The names of the five California sheriff deputies involved in a fight with an unarmed Black man who died after he was tasered have been released.
Chinedu Valentine Okobi, 36, of Redwood City, died after a taser was deployed during an arrest, KQED reports. Deputies claim Okobi was involved in an altercation with them after being pursued for weaving in and out of traffic. The deputies have been identified as John DeMartini, Alyssa Lorenzatti, Joshua Wang, Bryan Watt and also Sgt. David Weidner.
According to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office release, police were trying to subdue Okobi last Wednesday afternoon.
According to the San Mateo County sheriff department’s account, the five sheriff’s deputies tried to arrest Okobi but when one of the deputies got out of his vehicle Okobi “immediately assaulted” the deputy.
“They were attempting to get control of him as he resisted, and during the course of that a Taser was discharged,” said District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. “At this point we’re still investigating how many times.”
After Okobi was arrested, he stopped breathing, Wagstaffe said.
All five of the deputies are on paid leave, Wagstaffe said and a full report is expected in eight to 10 weeks
Okobi’s Facebook page describes him as Christian gospel recording artist who recently released several songs on the site ReverbNation.com. The site says he started recording music when he turned 17. His first album was called “Peace, Love, and Poetry.”
His biography said Okobi was a “Bay Area native, born to Nigerian parents who became naturalized American citizens.”
An autopsy of Okobi’s body is expected to be completed Friday. Wagstaffe said the findings won’t be released to the public until the district attorney issues a final report.
Activist Shaun King shared a post from Okobi’s sister sharing her thoughts about her brother’s gifts, life and struggle with mental illness.
Galveston, TX — Isaac Walton, father of three, is fighting for his life in a battle against leukemia. Now, however, he is also fighting police after he says he was attacked by multiple officers, beaten, tasered, and then dumped at a hospital for no reason.
“They abused their authority, pretty much. Thinking they can do what they want with people,” said Walton, who says cops had no reason to even approach him that day.
The incident happened on August 15 as Walton and his family were staying at a hotel in Galveston to celebrate his daughter’s birthday. Walton left the hotel that morning to go get the family breakfast and he says he stopped briefly at the sea wall to take a stroll.
“Next thing I know, I felt somebody grab me, and I grab my right arm, and this time I realize it’s a police officer,” said Walton. “Immediately I say, ‘Sir, I have a PICC line on this side, and I have leukemia,’ and they didn’t listen to anything I have to say.”
A PICC line, for those who may be unfamiliar, is a catheter implanted in a cancer patient’s arm which is used to administer the chemotherapy drugs.
According to Walton, one officer grabbed him and began beating him while another tasered him. He was then thrown in the back of the squad car.
“The only thing I can think about was trying to get out of that situation safely, without pretty much dying,” Walton said.
“They beat him, they put handcuffs on him, throw him in the back of a car, they don’t charge him with anything, they tell him he’s not under arrest, then they drop him off at an emergency room, and they just leave them there,” said Joe Mathew, an attorney representing Walton said.
After being dumped at the hospital, Walton finally made it back to the hotel where his family found him slumped over in pain. They immediately drove him to MD Anderson Cancer Center where his wife took photos of his injuries and they contacted the University of Texas Police Department who filed an incident report.
Despite not charging Walton with a crime at the time, days later, he’d be charged with resisting arrest — a move Walton says is an attempt to cover up for the officers’ criminal behavior.
“The only ones who should be charged in this incident, are the police officers who did this to him,” Walton’s attorney said.
In response to why they waited several days to issue a warrant for resisting arrest, the police released the following statement:
On Wednesday, August 15th 2018, at approximately 9:57am, the Galveston Police Department received two 911 calls requesting that the police check the welfare of a male, later identified as, 32-year-old Isaac Walton, as he was out on a jetty in the 3000 block of Seawall Blvd. During their encounter with Walton, he refused to follow commands given by Officers to further their investigation and was subsequently arrested for Resisting Arrest and transported him to the Galveston County Jail where jail medical staff refused to accept Walton until he was declared fit for incarceration by an attending doctor. Officers subsequently transported Walton to UTMB and released him, and requested a warrant for his arrest be issued for the aforementioned charge.
The warrant request for the charge of Resisting Arrest, Search, or Transport was completed by the officer on August 15th and was submitted to the court the next morning on Thursday, August 16th. The Galveston Police Department was made aware of the allegations against the officers later that evening, at which point the Chief of Police initiated an investigation into the officers’ conduct. The judge subsequently signed and issued the warrant the following Monday, August 20th at which point the warrant became active and was entered into the state and national registry. Walton was then detained by League City Police during a traffic stop on September 7th, arrested for the active warrant, and transported to the Galveston County Jail.
The internal investigation has since revealed that the involved officers’ actions did not appear to violate policy. To date, Walton has not filed an official complaint with the Galveston Police Department.
It appears that there are some questions concerning the timeline of events due to the gap between the warrant being filed, and the arrest. Hopefully this explains the sequence and answers those questions. Since the criminal case is still pending we are not able to comment on the details of the criminal case.
Walton, who is still battling leukemia, says that police fabricated this story to cover up what they did to him.
Even if police were responding to a welfare check request, Walton had harmed no one. How is it somehow considered okay for cops to walk up to an innocent man, begin demanding that he obey their every command, and then beat the hell out of him for not doing so fast enough?
Walton’s family also has a GoFundMe site to help with some of the medical bills.
miamiherald.com
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by David J. Neal And Charles Rabin dneal@miamiherald.com crabin@MiamiHerald.com
October 11, 2018 06:19 PM
A rookie Miami cop busted last year for ripping off unsuspecting motorists during illegal traffic stops in Miami’s trendy Wynwood neighborhood pleaded guilty to a host of charges this week and accepted a deal that could land him in prison for up to six years.
Miami police, who followed Jose Acosta after being tipped off to his actions, said the officer stole thousands of dollars in money and items from motorists during a one-year stretch from the time he was hired until he was fired in March 2017.
Acosta, 24, pleaded guilty to 10 counts of burglary, 10 counts of false imprisonment, eight counts of grand theft and two counts of petit theft. He turned himself in Thursday, promising full restitution to the victims and agreeing to a six-year prison sentence that could be reduced to three years with good behavior.
“There was no way out for him other than to be a man and accept responsibility for his actions,” said Acosta’s attorney George Pallas.
Acosta was arrested last year after police witnessed him pull over six cars in a single night. They said each time, the rookie cop flashed his lights and had the driver exit the vehicle. Then, according to police, he searched each vehicle before letting each driver back behind the wheel and sending them on their way.
They said Acosta hit the mother lode on his sixth victim, when after patting the driver down he found he had more than $1,000 in cash. Acosta placed the driver in the backseat of his patrol car as he searched his victim’s vehicle. The driver was permitted to eventually leave — but only after the officer stole $940 from his wallet and pockets, police said.
No tickets were written during any of the traffic stops. And, police said, Acosta had no probable cause to pull over any of the drivers, who were seemingly chosen at random. In all, police believe, Acosta stole as much as $6,000 worth of cash and property.
Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina said during each of Acosta’s ripoffs he was out patrolling alone. The chief applauded the deal worked out with state prosecutors.
“It’s appropriate that there’s a serious penalty,” said Colina. “Not only did he take from people, but he did it under the color of the law.”
Miami police were helped in the probe by investigators with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said Acosta stole from his victims while pretending to protect them.
“Jose Acosta was a corrupt opportunist who used his police uniform as a weapon to steal from people he knew would never contact law enforcement,” she said.
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Eden Prairie Detective Travis Serafin received high honors over the years. He spent time working SWAT, emergency response and broke many high-profile drug cases. Now, his alleged misconduct on a September 2017 drug case is discrediting anything he’s since touched.
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman’s office has already or is in the process of dismissing at least 32 cases in which Serafin was involved.
“While executing a search warrant officers found a large amount of heroin and some fentanyl in the house and a much smaller amount of drugs in a vehicle,” said David Brown, Chief Deputy Hennepin County Attorney.
Judge Jay Quam’s signed warrant listed only the house. In preparing their case, prosecutors asked for the warrant covering the evidence seized in the vehicle. One week later, Serafin gave prosecutors a second warrant.
Defendant Timothy Holmes would later plead guilty to drug crimes and third-degree murder in the death of someone he sold the heroin.
“However, the judge who heard Detective Serafin testify was concerned about the testimony,” Brown said.
Based on those suspicions, Eden Prairie police began to investigate the search warrant and Serafin’s work on the case. They’d soon learn the second search warrant was forged and that Serafin had apparently doctored the original to make it appear it was broader than Judge Quam had authorized.
“Detective Serafin’s behavior here was wrong and inexcusable,” Brown said. “It’s also baffling to us, because the legal search of the home in the case that led to it provided more than enough evidence for our case. If he had been honest, we simply would have agreed that the drugs found in the car wouldn’t be used.”
The damage has caused dismissals of dozens of Serafin’s cases. More than 30 cases have been dismissed or are in the process of being dismissed because Serafin was a critical witness in those cases. In addition, there are another 11 cases where Serafin was a peripheral witness and the defense lawyers have been contacted.
Three of the cases involve men who are already in prison, including Holmes. The other two are identified as Torrance Gray and Sean Cole.
While the city considers his possible termination, Eden Prairie police chief Greg Weber says the city “holds officers to extremely high ethical standards.”
Weber added that officers are given “time for due process if their actions are called into question.”
Detective Serafin had been with Eden Prairie since 2000. In 2011 he was selected as the department’s Officer of the Year.
Criminal charges are possible against Serafin. Due to conflicts, the McLeod County Attorney will undertake that investigation.
