District Attorney Summer Stephan released legal findings for five incidents — four that ended in death — involving San Diego sheriff’s deputies and city police over the past year, concluding in each case no criminal charges would be filed.

The incidents involved one fatal shooting in a Lemon Grove taco shop, a shooting at the Del Mar fair that wounded a man, and the deaths of three people who were in custody after struggling with deputies or San Diego police officers.

In a news release, the District Attorney’s Office noted that in four of the five incidents illegal drugs were found in the system of the deceased person, and at least one had a history of mental illness. That tracks a recent analysis of 25 years of police shootings done by the DA’s office, which showed that drugs use or mental health issues were a factor in 79 percent of the 439 incidents.

All of the five incidents occurred long before Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law sponsored by San Diego Assemblywoman Shirley Weber that redefined the law under which officers and deputies are legally allowed to use deadly force. Under the new law, which amends an existing section of the state Penal Code, deadly force can be used only when it is “necessary,” and the actions of law enforcement that led up to the shooting can be considered in a legal review. Previously, the standard said deadly force can be used when it is “reasonable,” whatever may have happened before the encounter was not weighed in the final analysis.


The new law does not take effect until Jan. 1, so these incidents were all analyzed under the current law. It’s unknown if the review protocol will have to change in the future because of the new law, though a spokeswoman for Stephan said Friday the office will comply with the requirements under the new amendments to the law.

Here are synopses of the findings from official letters sent by the district attorney to the agencies involved.



DEATHS IN CUSTODY

Lawayne Horne

On Feb. 26, San Diego police responded to calls of a partially naked man walking in traffic and at times falling down on University Avenue near Winona Avenue in City Heights. When police arrived, they found Lawayne Horne, 44, unsteady on his feet, and another man who was with them said he was under the influence of PCP.


While officers spoke with Horne, he fell down, striking his head on the pavement. He began rolling around on the ground and screaming. The letter says Horne then started biting his fingers. Officers put handcuffs on him, and when paramedics arrived those were replaced with softer restraints on his hands and feet.

On the way to the hospital, Horne’s heart stopped. He was revived but did not fully regain consciousness. He died on March 2.

Doctors had diagnosed Horne with non-survivable sepsis and kidney failure. An autopsy concluded the cause of death was methamphetamine and PCP intoxication. The review concluded officers acted reasonably when they restrained him.

Vito Vitale


On Oct. 5 2018, San Diego police were called to the Harbor View Inn and Suites on Grape Street on a report of a naked guest running in traffic. An officer caught the man, 39-year-old Vito Vitale, who was agitated and sweating profusely, and handcuffed him. Vitale struggled with the officer, and both fell to the ground. Vitale struck his head, but continued to struggle. At one point two civilians intervened and tried to hold down Vitale’s legs. Two more officers arrived and eventually brought Vitale under control, placing him in leg restraints.

Vitale’s breathing became shallow and his pulse weakened as officers waited for paramedics to arrive. He was taken to a hospital but did not regain consciousness and was pronounced dead at 11:58 p.m. An autopsy concluded the cause of death was cocaine intoxication and noted he had exhibited signs of excited delirium syndrome. However, the county Medical Examiner also concluded that the effects of being restrained were contributing factors, and ruled the manner of death a homicide. That is not a legal conclusion, the letter noted, “but one used to describe a medical assessment.”

In the review, prosecutors concluded there was no evidence of murder or manslaughter and that based on the circumstances the officers were reasonable in restraining Vitale.

Marco Antonio Napoles-Rosales


On Aug. 16, 2018, San Diego Sheriff’s deputies encountered 29-year-old Marco Antonio Napoles-Rosales at a gas station in Fallbrook. A clerk called to say he was trespassing. A deputy first tried to help Napoles-Rosales by letting him make several calls with the deputy’s phone.

Eventually he was told to leave the property — but he soon returned, and when a deputy tried to take him into custody for trespassing a struggle ensued. One deputy was bitten on his thumb. A second who came to assist used a Taser but it had no effect on Napoles-Rosales, according to the letter. Three deputies got him handcuffed but he continued to struggle. He was placed in a restraint device known as The WRAP, a blanket-like device that immobilizes someone while still allowing them to sit up and breathe.

While on his way to the hospital he stopped breathing, but was revived using CPR. A scan of his brain later revealed he had anoxic brain injury — an injury caused when the brain is deprived of oxygen. He died the next day. An autopsy concluded the cause of death was sudden cardiopulmonary arrest caused by methamphetamine intoxication and exertion during the struggle with deputies, and the manner of death was undetermined. A toxicology screen noted he had methamphetamine and amphetamines in his blood.

The DA analysis noted Napoles-Rosales was alert and breathing while in The WRAP, and neither the Taser nor the restraint device contributed to his death.


SHOOTING INCIDENTS

Adolfo Angel Gonzalez

On Jan. 5, three San Diego Sheriff’s deputies went to a Del Taco on Broadway near state Route 94 Lemon Grove after a call that a man with a gun was threatening patrons. A witness gave deputies a description of the man, later identified as Adolfo Angel Gonzalez, 28, in the parking lot.

The deputies entered the restaurant, spotted Gonzalez and told him to put his hands up. Instead, Gonzalez pulled a handgun he had purchased 11 days earlier from under the table and pointed it at the deputies. They fired, striking Gonzalez eight times out of 24 total rounds fired.


Family members told investigators Gonzalez had long suffered from mental illness, and was in a mental health facility in 2016. Recently he had gotten worse, and on the day of the shooting told a family member if he encountered police he would shoot them. His mother said he had a “death wish,” the letter said.

Prosecutors concluded the deputies were justified in shooting Gonzalez.

Daniel Elizarraras

At an Ice Cube concert at the Del Mar Fairgrounds on Sept. 2, 2018, unruly patrons who had been turned away after it was announced the concert was sold out began to tussle with fairground employees and security.


Deputies responded to the area, and one saw 22-year-old Daniel Elizarraras holding a silver handgun above his head, then firing off two rounds. The deputy first fired a Taser that had no effect. He then fired several rounds at Elizarraras who had the gun in his hand slightly below shoulder height. He was hit in the abdomen and shoulder and survived.

Elizarraras later pleaded guilty in San Diego Superior Court to discharging a firearm in a grossly negligent manner and using a firearm in the commission of a crime. He was sentenced to three years in prison. The review concluded the deputy was justified to fire in defense of himself and others in the crowd.