San Francisco man gets 90 days of treatment for biting security guard

Carlos A. Chavez-Martinez was sentenced to time served and in-patient treatment.

A federal judge sentenced a San Francisco man to 90 days of in-patient treatment for biting a security guard last July, in what the man’s attorney called an accident brought about by epilepsy.

Carlos A. Chavez-Martinez was sentenced to a month in jail that he’s already served, as well as 90 days in a hospital. The sentence was the result of an agreed-upon plea deal, according to court records.

According to court documents, Chavez-Martinez entered the a San Francisco Social Security office in July. Guards there recognized him as being banned for an unspecified 2017 “incident.” He allegedly refused to leave when confronted. As the guards were attempting to remove Chavez-Martinez, he bit a security guard on the forearm.

“It is abundantly clear that (Chavez-Martinez’s) alcoholism and mental health conditions and impairment has caused him to struggle to live a law-abiding life,” special assistant U.S. Attorney Denise Oki wrote in a sentencing memo.

Chavez-Martinez’s attorney said the biting was an accident.

“He suffered an epileptic attack and did not intend to hurt a security guard,” assistant federal public defender David Rizk wrote. “He accepts responsibility, however, for resisting the guards’ order to leave the Social Security Administration building, and therefore plead guilty.”