Officer faces charges in road-rage case
A San Jose police officer has been charged with repeatedly punching a woman during an alleged road-rage confrontation on the side of Interstate 680 this past summer in an off-duty encounter during which he tried to call for police backup, authorities said.
George Brown, 37, has been identified as the offduty officer involved in the July 24 fight on the freeway shoulder near the McKee Road exit. The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday that Brown has been charged with felony assault under the color of authority, misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor child endangerment.
The case alleges that during the encounter, Brown got out of his car and identified himself as an SJPD officer to the other motorist. At one point, he called police dispatchers and asked for patrol units to respond to his location, requesting a Code 3 response, which is reserved for urgent emergencies that authorize officers to activate their lights and sirens.
Brown, who state records show joined the San Jose Police Department in 2015, has been on paid administrative leave since the summer after an internal investigation into the fight was launched and determined he faced potential criminal liability. The criminal case was investigated by the
DA’s office and the California Highway Patrol.
“It is disappointing that an officer — on or off duty — would act in such a reckless and violent way,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “A higher standard of behavior is not a suggestion or a request. It is built into the badge.”
The listed attorney for Brown did not immediately return a message seeking comment Wednesday.
San Jose Police Chief Anthony Mata said the department’s investigation will be completed after the criminal case is adjudicated.
“I assure you that this officer will be held accountable for any law or policy violations if they have occurred,” Mata said. “These allegations defy everything I stand for and have no place in our organization. Violence against women is detestable and our department members work every day to prevent it.”
According to investigators, Brown was off duty driving a Ford Explorer and traveling with a male friend and a child relative about 8 p.m. on July 24 when he narrowly avoided a collision with the driver of a Ford Flex near a southbound Interstate 280 onramp. That escalated to the two motorists driving aggressively near each other, and a woman riding in the Flex threw a plastic bottle and hit the Explorer, investigators said. Soon after, Brown, while on the phone, “mouthed to the male driving the Flex to ‘pull over.’”
Both vehicles pulled over and by that point, they were on Interstate 680, which is what southbound I-280 becomes after crossing Highway 101. Investigators say Brown blocked a lane of traffic to pull up alongside the Flex. Brown then reportedly called for an emergency police response and in the meantime, Brown and the man riding with him got out of their vehicle, and so did a man and woman who were traveling in the Flex.
“Brown identified himself as an SJPD officer and then without provocation the 220-pound officer punched the 5-foot-3-inch woman in the face, knocking her to the ground,” a summary from the DA’s office said. “When she attempted to stand back up, Brown punched her again.”
Prosecutors alleged Brown then intervened in a fight between his friend and the man accompanying the woman. After the fight broke up, both vehicles were gone by the time police arrived. Both the CHP and SJPD were notified about the encounter after the woman who Brown reportedly punched appeared at a local hospital seeking medical treatment.
The man riding with Brown, a Redwood City resident, was charged with misdemeanor battery.
During the investigation, prosecutors said they learned that the fight was partially recorded on a witness’ cellphone and also by a passing motorist who called 911 and whose Tesla also recorded parts of the encounter with its on-board cameras. The DA’s office has said that it has no immediate plans to publicly release any of the footage, citing the victims’ privacy. This news organization has filed a public-records request with the office, seeking to obtain the video footage.
Esther Peralez-Dieckmann, executive director of Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence, said the allegations against Brown risk making survivors of domestic and gender-based violence more reluctant to turn to police for help.
“Gender bias is a huge issue in law enforcement,” said Peralez-Dieckmann, a former director of the Santa Clara County Office of Women’s Policy. “It takes a lot for survivors to call law enforcement because in the past, they haven’t been taken seriously.”
Peralez-Dieckmann said the charges should compel the police department to examine how its culture could have contributed to the thinking that compelled Brown to both allegedly attack the woman and also call for a massive police response to back him up. In the meantime, her nonprofit is in the process of organizing meetings between SJPD and survivors of domestic and genderbased violence.
“There has to be accountability and follow through. We want them to assess where they’re falling short. We need to see law enforcement genuinely sitting down with us and say, ‘We’re here to listen,’” she said. “Until we see that dialogue, we’re not going to make progress.”