No criminal charges have been filed against two Pleasanton police officers in the 2022 shooting of a domestic violence suspect, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price announced Thursday.
The February 17, 2022 shooting death of San Jose resident Cody Chavez by officers in Pleasanton one of several police shootings and inmate deaths reopened by Price after she took over as prosecutor in 2023. Her predecessor Nancy O’Malley previously ruled that Pleasanton officers, Brian Jewell and Mario Guillermo, were not criminally liable.
Price said Thursday that her office’s public accountability unit reviewed the case “with fresh eyes” and also concluded that the officers could not be held criminally liable for shooting 33-year-old Chavez after he pulled out a knife an apartment building on Willow Road emerged. .
Price’s announcement, however, was accompanied by a rebuke of the Pleasanton department’s “unnecessary escalation of force” in arresting Chavez.
The department deployed at least 19 officers from the Pleasanton and Livermore police departments, wearing militarized gear, “knowing that the suspect posed no immediate threat to the victim, was alone, unarmed, likely under the influence of alcohol and with mental health issues,” according to the statement. Price. said.
“These facts indicate an unnecessary escalation of force and multiple violations of the Pleasanton Police Department’s policies for mental health interventions and at a minimum de-escalation, and procedures for determining the appropriate level of force necessary to respond to this types of situations to respond to.”
On Thursday evening, Pleasanton police responded with a brief statement to a request for comment on the announcement.
“The Pleasanton Police Department remains committed to ensuring the safety of our citizens and community and supports the previous findings and the secondary review conducted by the Public Accountability Unit. Both assessments found no justification for criminal charges,” the police statement said. “Unfortunately, we cannot provide further comment at this time due to ongoing civil litigation.”
