Allison Gatlin

The Salinas Californian

A California State University Monterey Bay police officer is on paid administration leave because he declined to tase a reportedly suicidal student, the officer’s union said.

Marina police — which also responded and filed the complaint — said the officer in actuality froze, standing silent while three Marina officers struggled with the student.

On Thursday, both agencies pointed to the other alleging, respectively, excessive force and lacking action.

The news comes amid fresh protests spurred by officer-involved fatalities across the country. In the past two weeks, grand juries have failed to indict a pair of white officers who killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, with a gun; and Eric Garner in New York City with a chokehold. Both were black men.

In Salinas, four Latino men were killed this year by Salinas police officers, none of whom have Latino surnames.

Tension mounted and spilled over in May following the death of Carlos Mejia, who was wielding a pair of pruning shears when officers fatally shot him. A man was killed nearby during an ensuing protest and an officer trying to help him was hospitalized after a thrown bottle knocked him out cold.

Back in February, however, the CSUMB officer didn’t use his Taser, according to Jeff Solomon, Statewide University Police Association president. SUPA represents all CSU police officers.

On that point, Marina Police Chief Edmundo Rodriguez can agree.

“He just stood there,” Rodriguez said.

But from there the accounts of the February incident on Petersburg Court somewhat diverge.

According to Solomon, the CSUMB officer — a 20-year law enforcement veteran — arrived solo to a report of a suicidal man at the campus housing building on Petersburg Court. There, he found a man suffering a mental health crisis, Solomon said.

“[The student] had superficial cuts to his arms and wrist,” Solomon said. “But we have very specific training in crisis intervention and our officer was able to talk him down.”

Rodriguez, on the other hand, said the CSUMB officer initially declined assistance from Marina police but later asked their help in forcing entry to the apartment.

Walking into the room, the officers encountered a bloody scene, Rodriguez said.

“We saw blood everywhere,” he said. “On the carpet, on the floor. His wrists had been slashed. There was a bloody knife on the floor and a hammer on the bed.”

Scorched marks on the sweatshirt the man was wearing led the Marina officers to believe he’d tried to set himself on fire, Rodriguez said.

Although there were knives spread throughout the house, the student was no longer armed, Solomon said.

“[The officer] got him to sit on the bed, [the student] wasn’t confrontational,” Solomon said.

But the knife was still unsecured, Rodriguez emphasized.

Solomon said the CSUMB officer then obliged the man’s request for a glass of water. Mid-errand, the man stood up and asked the CSUMB officer to hurry, Solomon said.

Rodriguez, however, said the CSUMB officer actually left the room to either take or make a phone call. Doing so put the Marina officers in the awkward position of having to “take over” an incident that properly belonged to the CSUMB officer.

When the CSUMB officer returned he found the three Marina officers struggling with the student.

Solomon blamed the Marina police officers for “escalating the situation,” whereas Rodriguez claimed they were trying to prevent the man from accessing the knife or leaving the room.

“He was already a danger to himself,” Rodriguez said.

All three Marina police officers then fired their Tasers, Solomon said. Once the Taser cartridges were expelled, the officers then “dry stunned” the student — applying the Taser gun directly to his body. Solomon described the man as “150 pounds soaking wet.”

When ordered to use his Taser, the CSUMB officer refused, but turned the device over to a Marina sergeant for use, Solomon said. Ultimately, the student wasn’t injured in the struggle, he said.

Rodriguez said he doesn’t know whether the CSUMB officer turned his Taser over to the Marina sergeant. That would be strange, he added.

“He was just standing there,” Rodriguez said. “One officer was pleading with him to engage, to help them.”

Eventually, the three Marina officers were able to subdue the student and call emergency responders to assist, Rodriguez said. Since then, the man hasn’t again attempted to hurt himself.

Both Solomon and the CSUMB officer took issue with the Marina response.

“Generally, when one tool isn’t working, you usually move on to something else,” Solomon said. “There were four officers there. ... This doesn’t pass the smell test for us.”

Following the incident, the CSUMB officer called the Marina sergeant to protest the action inside the student’s dorm room, Solomon said. Shortly after, Marina police filed a complaint and asked for an investigation into the officer’s “failure to act.”

Marina officers on scene included a sergeant, a corporal and an officer. Together they have 32 years’ experience, Rodriguez said.

If SUPA hadn’t alleged excessive force by Marina police, Rodriguez said he likely wouldn’t have commented for the media. On Thursday, he defended the Marina officers’ actions and questioned why the union waited 10 months after the incident to make their grievances public.

“I get that they’re trying to save this officer’s job, but they did it at the expense of impugning the reputation of police officers they don’t even know,” he said.

CSUMB police officials never alleged excessive force, Rodriguez said. Because of a good working relationship between the two agencies, Rodriguez said he thought his counterpart at CSUMB would have apprised him of any concerns.

Ultimately, Rodriguez said he was “blindsided” by SUPA’s allegations and remained confident in his officers’ actions.

University officials largely declined comment, citing the ongoing personnel investigation. Joan Weiner, public information officer, did note “this case is much more complex than what was conveyed in the press release.”

The CSUMB officer in question has nine years’ experience on the Monterey Bay campus. He’s never been disciplined, Solomon said. Now, he faces potential termination.

In the wake of notable officer-involved deaths in Ferguson, Cleveland, Ohio, and New York, N.Y., Solomon said he was shocked by Marina’s complaint.

“We have an officer who showed incredible restraint in a very difficult situation,” he said. “He had it handled. The situation had all but been resolved when the other officers escalated it.”

Solomon added, “We have an officer who did everything right and he’s not being supported.”

Follow Allison Gatlin on Twitter @allison_salnews #salinas.