Family of man fatally shot by San Diego police files excessive force claim

The family of a man fatally shot a month ago by San Diego police filed a claim against the city Friday, with assertations that include excessive force and wrongful death.

Jose Alfredo Castro Gutierrez’s widow and her family’s attorney announced the action — a precursor to a lawsuit — a day earlier, during a virtual press conference that brought together several community leaders who said the death of Castro underscores a need to re-evaluate police’s role in responding to mental health crises.

Ana Ojeda has said her 39-year-old husband had a history of schizophrenia and paranoia.

“We’re here to seek and reflect on other ways to address mental health crises without resorting to death,” Ojeda said Thursday.

Jose Alfredo Castro Gutierrez and his wife, Ana Ojeda.

(Courtesy of Eugene Iredale)

The claim states that Castro “was in the throes of a mental health crisis, possibly exacerbated by drug use,” and police were told he had no weapons, only a curtain rod in his hands. It also notes that two other San Diego police officers at the scene used less-lethal force.

It accuses the officer who shot Castro of using excessive force, and accuses the department of supervisory negligence, tactical incompetence and the failure to have properly trained, supervised and disciplined the officer. It does not specifically state the amount of damages the family is seeking.

Police spokesman Lt. Shawn Takeuchi said the department had no comment on the claim.

Castro, a Mexican national and legal U.S. resident who worked in construction, was shot outside the home where he lived in the Mountain View neighborhood when he ran toward officers with the metal rod in hand. Ojeda has said her husband was in a state of paranoia. She believes he thought the officers would help him.

In body-camera videos released by police last month, Castro yells, “Aduya!” — “Help,” in Spanish — in the moments before he darts toward the officers.

Audio from the videos indicates officers told Castro in Spanish and English to drop the rod.

“The needless use of fatal force in this case is tragic, but more than tragic, it was unnecessary,” said Eugene Iredale, the attorney representing Ojeda.

Residents of the home on Pardee Street, where Castro rented a room, called 911 after he woke them up. Ojeda and Iredale said Castro asked the residents to call police because he was paranoid and afraid. Police said he grabbed a metal curtain rod and smashed windows and other items inside the house.

A neighbor who also called 911 told a dispatcher that someone was “yelling for help like they’re being tortured,” according to the audio of the call, which was released by police.

When officers approached the home, they saw Castro through a front window and heard him yelling and smashing windows, according to police and the body-camera videos.

In the police footage, Castro shouts for help from the other side of a block wall and iron fence before he runs through the front yard of the home and out the front gate, turning a corner onto a sidewalk with the rod in his right hand.

Several officers were standing on the sidewalk. Officer Isai Castillo, who has been with the San Diego Police Department for two years, shot Castro. Another officer fired a bean-bag round, while a third fired a Taser.

“We demand the county authorities to treat this case with the seriousness that all criminal investigations require,” said Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, consul general of Mexico in San Diego, whose office organized the news conference.

Iredale said the case highlights a need for officers to engage in proper tactical planning and turn to less-lethal options, not lethal force unless necessary. He noted that the police footage shows that the officer who shot Castro got out of his police vehicle and “immediately” approached the home.

He and others on Thursday pushed for police reform, in particular when it comes to encounters between officers and people experiencing a mental health crisis.

“The fatal shooting of Mr. Castro Gutierrez is another tragic reminder of the need to revisit the role of police in our communities,” said Christie Hill, deputy advocacy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties. “A call for help should not turn into a fatal tragedy.”

A member of the Coalition for Police Accountability and Transparency, Hill highlighted a proposal the coalition — which includes the local ACLU and other groups — called for earlier this year: diverting funds from police budgets to non-law enforcement alternatives in part to “decriminalize” mental health crises. She pointed to a setup in Eugene, Oregon, where a specialized team responds to mental health-related calls in the place of officers.

She called eliminating officers’ role as mental health responders “not an end all, but ... a critical first step to reduce police violence.”

Pedro Rios of the American Friends Service Committee shared a similar opinion. He urged city officials to divert funds from police budgets to “humane” alternatives, such as teams of mental health processionals. “We can start by challenging the assumption that we need armed law enforcement (officers) to solve our problems,” he said.

Michelle Celleri, human rights counsel for Alliance San Diego, called for strong use-of-force policies. “Until we create systemic change to our use-of-force policies, we will continue to see unnecessary deaths at hands of law enforcement,” she said. “We will continue to see distrust between the police and our communities. It is time for us to stand together and demand stricter use-of-force policies.”

Ojeda said “little by little” she has been able to cope with the pain of her husband’s death. What helps her, she said, is hope for reform so other families don’t experience loss like hers. Castro is survived by Ojeda and their 21-month-old daughter.

Staff writer Teri Figueroa contributed to this report.