Concerned parties help police de-escalate situation with mentally ill man

Since Mother’s Day, Kristopher Rene Jones has not been well.

Jones, a 60-year-old black man, takes medication for bipolar disorder and PTSD, said his fiancee Lynn Lawrence. But he’d stopped taking the pills and devolved into another “episode” this week.

Friday morning, a bystander reported to police that Jones was assaulting someone inside an SUV in a Del Paso Heights parking lot. Jones was alone in the Chrysler Pacifica, but the officer called for backup believing Jones might have explosives. At one point, officers drew their guns, according to witnesses.

It’s a neighborhood where residents have come to fear the worst during police incidents, especially involving mentally ill people and African-Americans. Last month, an officer drew scrutiny for tackling and repeatedly punching a pedestrian. Last summer, two officers shot a mentally-ill man carrying a pocket knife on Del Paso Boulevard.

But within an hour, Jones was safely headed to a local hospital to receive psychiatric care. Lawrence said the peaceful outcome resulted from community members turning out to help and officers willing to listen and de-escalate.

“We ended up with someone who wasn’t dead because people worked together this time,” Lawrence said. “And that’s how it needs to work every time.”

She described Jones, who she has been with for four years, as a sweet and generous truck driver, with a propensity for bringing home stray animals. But this time of year is tough.

“Mother’s Day was a trigger point for him,” said Lawrence. “He has episodes every single time. I can count on that.”

Lawrence said she was worried Friday morning when she spoke to Jones and felt that he had gotten worse. She was due at work and asked a friend to check on him.

When Lawrence’s friend arrived, police were already surrounding the SUV. Officers were told an assault was taking place inside the SUV, according to police spokeswoman Linda Matthew.

They determined Jones was alone. The first officer on scene at about 7:40 a.m. said “the person in the car began to make threats that he had some kind of explosive device,” according to Matthew.

Jones had a garbage can in the back of the SUV, which Lawrence said had been for yard work. The officer feared the can contained explosives and called for backup. At least seven more police vehicles responded, based on Facebook live video shot later by Debra Cummings, a neighborhood activist.

Matthew couldn’t confirm that guns were drawn but that “officers probably did have their guns out” as they evaluated the scene. Lawrence was alerted by her friend what was transpiring.

“That’s been my worst nightmare because he is a black man and I know he can act crazy,” Lawrence said. “Every time there is something like that with a mentally ill black person, I say, ‘Kris, this is why you have to stay on your meds, because I am afraid they are going to shoot you.’”

She immediately headed to the scene. On the way, she contacted the local chapter of Black Lives Matter, setting off a response from community activists.

Cummings rushed to the parking lot and began streaming the incident live on Facebook when she arrived. Danielle Williams of Sacramento Area Congregations Together said she also got a call, and estimates up to 75 people were there watching.

When Lawrence arrived, she explained Jones’ condition to police. She said her friend had tried with no luck.

At first, she thought they wouldn’t believe her, either. But things seemed to change when she said her father and mother were both police officers, she said. She also wonders how much her appearance made a difference.

“I’m white, dressed conservatively,” she said. “It was different.”

Cummings said that after police spoke with Lawrence, “It just went from scary to calm ... and that’s the first (time) I have ever seen that living in Del Paso Heights.”

Matthew confirmed that police made the decision to de-escalate after speaking with “a witness that showed up on the scene that was related,” adding that Lawrence’s race was not a factor.

Lawrence said police holstered their guns and brought out non-lethal weapons including a bean-bag gun. She said police took the time to explain to her that they planned on knocking out the back window of the SUV and that if they did use the non-lethal weapon, it might sound like a regular gun shot. They told her “they wouldn’t use more force than what was necessary,” she said.

Police then broke the window and got Jones out with minimal force. He was taken to a nearby hospital and not arrested.