December 5, 2024
Oakland, CA – Today, DA Pamela Price announced that the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office Public Accountability Unit’s (PAU) review of the February 17, 2022, fatal shooting of Cody Chavez by Pleasanton Police Officers Brian Jewell and Mario Guillermo has concluded.
The PAU thoroughly reviewed, with fresh eyes, the prior Alameda County District Attorney’s Office report, Pleasanton Police Department policies, and the complete case file materials, including but not limited to all available body-worn camera footage, news footage, investigative reports, witness statements, and dispatch recordings.
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 prosecution cannot prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the use of lethal force by Officers Jewell and Guillermo was unjustified.
There are, however, lessons to be learned from the actions of the Pleasanton Police Department on February 17, 2022: they deployed at least 19 police officers from Pleasanton and Livermore Police Departments with militarized equipment (an ARV-armed recovery vehicle) to arrest the suspect of a domestic violence incident that occurred 12 hours earlier, knowing the suspect posed no imminent threat to the victim, was alone, unarmed, likely under the influence of alcohol and experiencing mental health issues. 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.
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Contact: damedia@acgov.org
The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office (DAO) is one of California’s largest prosecutors’ offices and is led by Alameda County’s first Black woman District Attorney Pamela Y. Price. Price brings her vision to this office to fairly administer justice in the pursuit of thriving, healthy, and safe communities for every person who steps foot in Alameda County, no matter their race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, income, or zip code. Price has been recognized as one of the most progressive prosecutors through her forward-thinking, innovative strategies to interrupt cycles of violence and crime and bring change to a criminal justice system rooted in systemic racism. Follow Madam DA on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, and @AlamedaCountyda on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.