SAN FRANCISCO—On Friday, November 13, a video was released by the San Francisco Public Defender’s office depicting two Alameda County Sheriff officers chasing an unidentified man in an alley of the San Francisco Mission District.
The video depicts one of the deputies tackling the man onto the pavement, and striking him repeatedly after he is on the pavement. The second officer then begins striking the man with a baton, repeatedly. The footage shows the man attempt to stand and crawl away, but is unable to due to the repeated strikes from the officers.
The video shows the individual being beaten for approximately 30 seconds. The caption on the released video states “that the video surveillance system records in 10 second chunks, with a gap in between.”
According to the video caption, the man had driven “across the bridge” before continuing on foot. In a tweet of the video released by the San Francisco Public Defender, the caption stated that there was a high-speed chase prior to the incident. According to police officers, the pursuit began in San Leandro around 1:30 a.m., the footage shows the beating took place at approximately 2:05 a.m.
The San Francisco Public Defender called the beating “shocking and brutal,” and compares the incident to Rodney King.
Alameda County Sheriff Sergeant Ray Kelly stated that the police department has begun conducting a full internal affairs investigation.
According to Kelly, deputies had discovered a stolen 2015 Mercedes C300 on Foothill Boulevard in San Leandro. When the officers approached the vehicle, the suspect ignored their orders to stop and started the engine.
Kelly stated that the man collided into the two police vehicles, “injuring one deputy and disabling his patrol vehicle.” The suspect then drove at documented speeds of over 100 miles per hour onto Highway 580, and headed into San Francisco.
According to Kelly, upon exiting the freeway, the man struck a parked car on the street and continued to flee on foot.
