CHOKEHOLD AT CENTER OF EXCESSIVE-FORCE SUIT
Claim says man mistaken for his brother, deputies used carotid restraint
Michael Keeler was at his parents’ home in Fallbrook in February of last year when he noticed four San Diego sheriff ’s deputies walking toward the house.
He approached the deputies to ask what he could do for them.
Moments later Keeler was told they had a warrant for his arrest, and he was handcuffed and placed into a chokehold for allegedly resisting arrest, according to a new lawsuit filed against the San Diego Sheriff ’s Department.
“Plaintiff Michael Keeler — an African-American man — was subjected to excessive force by a San Diego sheriff’s deputy, specifically, a chokehold, or ‘carotid neck restraint,’” the lawsuit states.
Three deputies stood by while one employed the neck restraint, the suit said.
Sheriff Bill Gore banned the use of chokeholds departmentwide in June 2020, days after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.
“Unfortunately, the incident was not isolated,” the U.S. District Court complaint said of Keeler’s arrest. “The San Diego Sheriff ’s Department
has a long and troubled history of its deputies using force against minorities at a greatly disproportional rate.”
Keeler was arrested and booked into jail. Keeler’s parents posted bail the next day and took their son straight to a hospital. He had bruising and swelling on his neck and injury to his wrists due to the handcuffs, the lawsuit said.
Keeler, who was never charged in the Feb. 6, 2020, incident and has no criminal record in San Diego County, died of an unrelated illness in June 2020. He was 32.
Sheriff ’s spokeswoman Lt. Amber Baggs said the department investigated what happened at the Fallbrook house and concluded that the four deputies did nothing wrong.
Keeler “was contacted as a possible no bail warrant suspect,” Baggs said by email. “During the detention, Mr. Keeler pulled away from deputies who were attempting to place him into handcuffs.”
The Sheriff’s Department said Keeler was found in possession of suspected oxycodone and Xanax. Prosecutors later declined to file criminal charges in the case, but Baggs said that development did not reflect on the deputies’ actions.