lwhite@bayareanewsgroup.com

SAN LEANDRO — In January 2015, Douglas Babbitt was talking on the phone in the driver’s seat of his parked van when a police officer asked if an open beer bottle on the ground near the vehicle’s front passenger door belonged to him.

Babbitt said the beer was not his, nor had he seen who left it in the parking lot in front of the 7-Eleven on East 14th Street.

But San Leandro police Officer Michael Olivera continued to question Babbitt about the beer. Olivera’s body camera captured the entire incident in a nearly 12-minute video that shows how the situation escalated and led to the 51-year-old Oakland man briefly lying unconscious on the ground.

Babbitt was arrested and charged with resisting a police officer with use of violence, driving under the influence of alcohol and multiple weapons violations.

In July, Babbitt sued San Leandro, Olivera and Officer Alexander Ying in U.S. District Court. The lawsuit alleges that the police officers violated Babbitt’s constitutional rights, used excessive force, unlawfully arrested and falsely imprisoned him.

During the encounter with police, Babbitt suffered a concussion and injuries to his shoulder and face, the suit says. He seeks undisclosed compensatory and punitive damages.

The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office dismissed all of the charges against Babbitt, according to the lawsuit.

“The reason this case is interesting is we have the whole interaction from start to finish, and you can tell how these police departments handle people who are minorities, people who are driving beat-up cars, people who are in impoverished neighborhoods,” said Fulvio Cajina, Babbitt’s attorney.

In court documents, the defendants acknowledge using a carotid restraint hold to gain control of Babbitt but deny the rest of his claims.

The two officers acted “reasonably and appropriately given the circumstances,” said attorney Gregory Fox, who is representing San Leandro, Olivera and Ying.

“For reasons not fully explained, (Babbitt) became very upset, very belligerent,” said Fox, noting that police did not kick or strike Babbitt. “He basically refused to cooperate.”

In the video, Olivera questions Babbitt while Ying shines a flashlight through the van’s passenger window. Olivera asks why he is “aggravated,” and Babbitt says because the officer is asking about a beer that is not his and repeats that he does not know who left it there.

After asking Babbitt for identification, Olivera tells him to hang up the phone. Babbitt refuses, saying he wants the person on the line to hear the conversation.

“Based on your aggravated manner, it appears to me like you’re under the influence,” Olivera says.

“I’m not under the influence,” Babbitt responds.

Olivera ignores Babbitt’s offer to take a field sobriety test. Babbitt then refuses Olivera’s order to get out of the vehicle.

In the next few minutes, the video shows the officers snapping a handcuff on Babbitt’s left wrist, and then Olivera says he’s under arrest for public intoxication. “I’m not drunk, I’m not drunk,” Babbitt says.

The officers twist Babbitt’s arm until he agrees to get out of the van. Very quickly, Babbitt is on the ground and surrounded by several officers yelling at him to stop resisting and put his hands behind his back. An unidentified officer applied the carotid restraint, which applies pressure on the carotid arteries and reduces blood flow to the brain, causing temporary unconsciousness.

“You just passed me out,” says Babbitt, a heavyset man. “I have to sit up; I can barely breathe.”

Paramedics took Babbitt to San Leandro Hospital and then the city jail. While searching Babbitt’s van, police found a knife and four firearms, including one that was loaded.

Although police said Babbitt’s eyes were bloodshot and watery and he smelled of alcohol, a toxicology report found that Babbitt did not have any alcohol in his system that night, according to Cajina, his attorney.

“What we find the most troubling is the use of force on a person like Mr. Babbitt. He wasn’t threatening; there was absolutely no reason to use the carotid hold,” Cajina said.

Babbitt said San Leandro police had questioned and followed him before, but this was the first time he’d been arrested — an experience that left the former Army reservist shaken.

“If it hadn’t been for the camera, it would have been a different story,” Babbitt said. “I think the body camera kept them honest.”

Lisa P. White covers Concord and Pleasant Hill. Contact her at 925-943-8011. Follow her at Twitter.com/lisa_p_white.