MARTINEZ – San Pablo police officers were justified in their use of lethal force when they gunned down a man during a traffic stop in North Richmond more than two years ago, according to a report released Friday by the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office.
The confrontation occurred in the 1300 block of Market Avenue on the afternoon of Dec. 15, 2021. According to the report, officers Waseemah Ali, Monica Louis, Javier Rios and Shaun Swaleh shot and killed Sergio Baldemar Escalera-Valdez, 45, of San Pablo, after he appeared to ready a pistol for a gunfight and ignored commands to drop it. Escalera-Valdez’s weapon was later revealed to be a BB gun.
“The officers acted with an actual and reasonable belief that deadly force was necessary to defend against an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury,” prosecutors wrote in the 32-page report. “As such, no further action will be taken in this case.”
Relatives of Escalera-Valdez told investigators he was depressed due to financial difficulties and had spoken about taking his own life, according to the report. And just before the fatal shooting, a visibly distraught Escalera-Valdez told an employee at the Evergreen Market in San Pablo that there was no way to solve his problem and that he wasn’t going to kill himself, but would “let the cops do it for me.”
At a coroner’s inquest last July, a jury returned a verdict of “death caused by suicide.” That ruling, however, had no bearing on the district attorney’s office investigation.
In addition to determining lethal force was warranted, prosecutors concluded the four officers acted lawfully when they stopped Escalera-Valdez in his vehicle and tried to detain him. At the time, they were going off information they received in a 911 call – a second employee at the Evergreen Market told dispatchers a man, later identified as Escalera-Valdez, was sitting in a pickup truck with a gun in his hands.
As officers were preparing to head to the market, Escalera-Valdez sped out of the parking lot in a Toyota Tacoma. Officers spotted and pursued him into North Richmond, where he pulled over. According to the report, Escalera-Valdez moved around the truck cab in an “unusual manner” and initially refused to show officers his hands. When he finally held his hands out of the window, they appeared bloody.
Escalera-Valdez got out of the Toyota with his back to the officers and what appeared to be a pistol in his hand; he then racked the slide, turned around and faced the officers, according to the report. Following additional commands to drop the firearm, Escalera-Valdez raised it, at which point the four officers opened fire with their weapons, prosecutors said. Escalera-Valdez was struck a total of seven times.
Just one of the gunshot wounds was fatal, according to an autopsy, which also revealed Escalera-Valdez’s blood alcohol level was 0.210 percent, or more than twice the legal limit for driving under the influence. According to the report, Escalera-Valdez also tested positive for methamphetamine, amphetamine and THC.
