Review of fatal Pleasanton police shooting finds officers cannot be held criminally liable

OAKLAND — A pair of Pleasanton police officers cannot be held criminally liable for fatally shooting a 33-year-old San Jose man more than two years ago, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price announced Thursday on her final day in office.

The police killing was one of six Price set out to re-examine with her Public Accountability Unit, or PAU.

On Feb. 17, 2022, Officers Mario Guillermo and Brian Jewell shot and killed Cody Chavez while responding to a domestic violence call in the 4800 block of Willow Road.

The PAU reviewed former DA Nancy O’Malley’s report on the case, police department policies and case file materials, including body-worn camera footage, investigative reports and witness statements, according to the district attorney’s office.

“While this is certainly a tragic outcome and series of events, the PAU has concluded that Officers Guillermo and Jewell cannot be held criminally liable for the killing of Mr. Chavez,” the office said in a news release. “The prosecution cannot prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the use of lethal force by Officers Jewell and Guillermo was unjustified.”

There were, however, “lessons to be learned” from the police department’s actions, prosecutors said.

According to the district attorney’s office, the police department sent at least 19 officers with “militarized equipment” to arrest a suspect in a domestic violence incident that happened 12 hours earlier.

Police knew Chavez posed no imminent threat to the victim, was alone, unarmed, likely under the influence of alcohol and experiencing mental health issues, prosecutors said.

“These facts point to an unnecessary escalation of force and multiple violations of Pleasanton Police Department policies for mental-health crisis interventions and de-escalation at minimum, and procedures for determining the appropriate level of force necessary to respond to this type of situation,” the district attorney’s office said.

The case review caps Price’s historically short and troubled tenure as Alameda County’s top prosecutor. Price, a progressive, was elected on a criminal justice reform platform in 2022, but voters soured on her approach and backed a measure last month to remove her from office. She is both the first Black woman to hold the post and the first elected district attorney to be removed from office in the county’s history.

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