OAKLAND -- Council members approved a $450,000 settlement Tuesday with the relatives of an Oakland man who died in a struggle with police officers who mistook him for an intruder in his own home.

Hernan Jaramillo, 51, was under the influence of drugs and "making a great deal of noise" in his bedroom about 1:30 a.m. July 8, 2013 when his sister, Ana Biocini, called police to their East Oakland home thinking he was being attacked by an intruder, according to the complaint filed in federal court.

Biocini locked herself in her bedroom and threw her keys out her window to arriving officers Carlos Navarro and Ira Anderson, who promptly handcuffed Jaramillo, the complaint stated.

There was a struggle, according to the complaint, as the officers attempted to put Jaramillo in a patrol car, and then dragged him "20-feet on his back to the sidewalk."

The officers then pinned Jaramillo on his stomach as he screamed for help and warned that he was struggling to breathe, the complaint stated. Jaramillo became unresponsive shortly thereafter and was pronounced dead after paramedics arrived.

In announcing the settlement Tuesday, Supervising City Attorney Doryanna Moreno said that "the officers were not aware that Mr. Jaramillo was Ms. Biocini's brother when they took him into custody."

Attorney John Burris, who represented Biocini and her five surviving siblings, said the officers had been informed that Jaramillo wasn't an intruder before they tried to put him in the police car.


"This man was at his house and the police come, and he winds up dead," Burris said.

The Alameda County coroner attributed Jaramillo's death to a drug overdose, according to Burris. He said that an independent pathologist disputed whether there were enough drugs in Jaramillo's system to contribute to his death.

The council voted 6-0-1 to settle the case. Councilman Larry Reid was absent and Councilwoman Desley Brooks abstained.

Contact Matthew Artz at 510-208-6435.