A Sacramento civil-rights attorney says Woodland police officers used unreasonable force in their confrontation with a methamphetamine-intoxicated man who died after being taken into custody.
Michael Anthony Barrera, 30, stopped breathing after being struck with a Taser and handcuffed by officers responding to reports of Barrera wielding several weapons on the afternoon of Feb 8. He died a short time later at Woodland Memorial Hospital.
“Decedent was experiencing a mental health emergency at the time and not presenting a credible threat to officers or anyone else,” attorney Stewart Katz, representing Barrera’s parents Daniel Barrera and Christine Amaro, wrote in a pair of wrongful-death claims filed last week against the city of Woodland and Yolo County.
“The officers used unreasonable force, including a Taser, causing his death,” Katz wrote.
He alleges that the city and county are liable for damages “in excess of $25,000” for loss of familial relationship, loss and support, pain and suffering, as well as violations of state and federal constitutional protections.
The claims, which are precursors to lawsuits, were filed Thursday. Both the city of Woodland and Yolo County have 45 days from that date to respond to the documents.
County officials could not be reached for comment about its pending claim. Woodland police Lt. Anthony Cucchi confirmed receipt of the city claim and said it would be reviewed by city attorneys, but declined comment beyond that.
Officers confronted Barrera at about 12:15 p.m. Feb. 8 after witnesses phoned in reports of a man acting erratically at a Matmor Road apartment complex while armed with a pair of scissors, a kitchen knife and a golf club.
The altercation occurred several blocks away on Garfield Place, where Cucchi said Barrera, who had been swinging the golf club, set it down, began to run away, then turned and “charged at and assaulted officers,” who subdued him with control holds and a Taser.
Barrera stopped breathing after being handcuffed and, despite CPR efforts from officers and medical personnel, died at the hospital.
The incident is being investigated by the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office, which is expected to complete its probe in early May, Cucchi said. It then will be reviewed by the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office.
Report criticized
Katz took issue with the Yolo County coroner’s investigation into Barrera’s death, calling the resulting report “conspicuously vague” in its description of Barrera’s encounter with police.
“It’s so vague I can’t tell what happened,” Katz said in an interview. “People deserve some answers as to what happened when you lose someone.”
Coroner’s officials concluded that Barrera had a toxic and potentially lethal level of methamphetamine in his bloodstream and died of sudden death with methamphetamine intoxication during restraint by law enforcement.
Barrera’s manner of death was undetermined, however, with investigators unable to say with certainty whether it was accidental or a homicide — meaning at the hands of another.
“There is a possibility the decedent could have died with the quantitated level of methamphetamine in his blood without getting into an altercation with law enforcement,” Deputy Coroner Sheik Ali wrote in his report, quoting the forensic pathologist, Dr. Brian Nagao, who conducted Barrera’s autopsy.
However, “Dr. Nagao stated that he cannot determine if the physical contact pathologically caused or contributed to the death, but we cannot exclude the restraint which was the actions of another,” the report says.
Hospitalizations
Coroner’s officials also noted that Barrera had been hospitalized several times in the months before his death for evaluation of drug intoxication and mental health symptoms.
According to the report, Barrera “presented under the influence of methamphetamine” during a Jan. 10 visit to Woodland Memorial Hospital and had acted delusional in front of his mother, who told police that her son told her “the house is possessed and haunted” and that “police are going to kill me.”
Doctors diagnosed Barrera with bipolar disorder with psychosis and amphetamine use disorder. He was admitted to the hospital on a psychiatric hold and consented to treatment at the time, but requested discharge the following day against medical advice, the report says.
Records showed two earlier hospital visits as well — one on Dec. 10, 2016, for hallucinogen intoxication, and another on Nov. 25, 2016, for shortness of breath, during which Barrera said he had been exposed to chemicals at work and claimed his employer “was trying to poison him,” the report says.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene