On Sunday, July 9, 2017, a Police Observation Device equipped with a License Plate Reader alerted officers of a stolen vehicle that had passed through the intersection of Rio Linda Boulevard and Eleanor Avenue.

Responding officers quickly located the stolen vehicle near El Camino Avenue and Grove Avenue and safely detained the female driver without incident. During the subsequent investigation, not only was the identity of the stolen vehicle suspect acquired, it was also discovered he was wanted on an unrelated felony warrant. The suspect's last known location was at an apartment on the 800 block of Lampasas Avenue.  

Once the suspect's warrant was confirmed, additional officers, in full police uniform, responded and began to develop a plan to take the suspect into custody. During the briefing, officers were provided with a detailed physical description of the wanted suspect and his current location.  As officers approached the location, they observed a man closely matching the physical description of the wanted suspect sitting by the front door of the location that officers believed the suspect was at.  As officers approached, they gave verbal commands for the man to surrender.   Instead, the man refused and ran into an apartment, locking the door behind him. 

The female resident of the home where the man fled was also seated near the apartment door.  As officers were attempting to pursue the male subject, the woman got up and stood in front of the door, blocking officers from entering the apartment. She refused to follow officer’s commands to move, so an officer grabbed her arm and pulled her to the left of him and out of the officers’ path to the doorway.  After the officer let go, it appears her momentum took her from the paved walkway to the uneven grass surface.  She lost her balance and fell to the ground.    

The woman immediately got back up and began to move towards the door that officers were still attempting to enter. Another officer held her back to ensure she was out of harm’s way and would not continue to interfere with the investigation.  

Once officer's gained entrance into the apartment, they detained a separate female and the man who originally ran inside. The male subject was safely detained and was found not to be who officers were originally looking for.  It was determined that he had no involvement with the stolen vehicle. He was released without charges.

A supervisor responded to the location and spoke to the female resident regarding what had happened. During that conversation, the supervisor asked if the female wanted medical attention because of her fall. She said she was experiencing pain, so medical personnel was requested.  The female was transported to a local hospital for a medical evaluation.    

On July 11, 2017, the female resident filed a complaint with the Sacramento Police Department Internal Affairs Division related to the actions of the officers that were involved in this incident.   That complaint has prompted an administrative investigation into this incident.  None of the involved officers have been placed on administrative leave.  

The administrative investigation is being actively monitored by the Director of The Office of Public Safety Accountability (OPSA).  OPSA has and will continue to have, unfettered access to the investigative material in this case.  

The Sacramento Police Department recognizes that this incident has generated some interest within our community.  The investigation has progressed far enough that we are confident that the public release of video related to this case will not compromise the ongoing investigation.  Therefore, today we are releasing video and audio material that is related to the incident. 

We appreciate the community’s patience by allowing the Department to complete the initial stages of this investigation and evaluation of the investigative material.  We understand the importance of providing timely, accurate, information to the community; however, the integrity of an investigation is also of utmost importance, hence the delay of the video release.

The release of this material is done at the discretion of the Chief of Police as an ongoing effort to improve our organizational transparency and is not being released under the City Council's Police Use of Force policy.  All video and audio that was released has been processed for redactions to ensure the confidentiality and privacy of those involved.  The faces have been blurred and audio redactions are signified by muted audio with no accompanied sound.

The material is now available to the media and citizens through the Dropbox and YouTube links below which will also be posted on the Department’s website, Facebook page and Twitter account (@sacpolice). 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLR0Wtq8JGPQYDrJGFuIQ9cLu0JrJykwiM