WIDOW STILL WAITS FOR ANSWERS ON HUSBAND’S DEATH
Sheriff’s Department has not released jail video, documents from last year
Her husband died on the floor of his San Diego Central Jail cell one year ago and Tammy Wilson still has no idea what happened.
Omar Moreno Arroyo was due to be released any minute on the minor drug charges, deputies told her, and she waited outside the jail all night. Early on the morning of Jan. 7, 2021, the jail staff told her he had died late the night before.
The San Diego Sheriff ’s Department hasn’t said much more since. A year later, Wilson still struggles with unanswered questions as officials maintain their hold on information she seeks.
“I was denied all of the information I requested,” Wilson said this week. “I deserve to see the surveillance video and the body-cam footage. I just want justice for Omar.”
The medical examiner’s report, released almost three months after Arroyo died, ruled the case an accident. It said he choked on a cloth face mask and food bolus, likely bread, after exhibiting “seizure-like activity,” and that acute methamphetamine intoxication was likely a contributing factor.
Sheriff’s Department officials said they are not required to release the other documents Wilson requested.
Spokeswoman Lt. Amber Baggs said the police report, the 911 call, jail cell video surveillance and footage from cameras worn by deputies responding to the medical emergency are all exempt from public disclosure. In November she said the department had opened an internal investigation.
“Records of a law enforcement investigation, or any investigatory or security files compiled by a law enforcement agency are exempt from disclosure,” Baggs said, quoting a state Government Code section.
Wilson, who placed the 911 call that brought San Diego sheriff’s deputies to her Julian home on Jan. 6, 2021, is now suing Sheriff Bill Gore, San Diego County and several others in relation to her husband’s death.
“They gave me the autopsy report, but all that did was spark more questions,” she said. “Nothing else has been said, and I’m still clueless (about what happened). And it’s been a year.”
Arroyo, who was 33, became the first inmate to die in San Diego County custody last year. Seventeen others followed, making 2021 the deadliest year in local jails since Gore became sheriff in 2009.
San Diego County has the highest mortality among California’s largest counties, with more than 160 deceased inmates in the past dozen years.
The death of her husband has badly shaken her trust in law enforcement, Wilson said, and the lack of information has exacerbated her grief.
“This past year I have felt absolutely lost,” she said in an interview this week. “It’s a struggle to even get out of bed every day. I’m alive, but I’m not really living a life.
“The guilt I live with every day weighs heavy on my heart,” she said. “I’m the one that called police, and I truly regret that decision.”
Wilson said she hopes the case prompts the county to rethink its records policy. More importantly, she hopes the suit convinces the sheriff to take better care of the men and women in his custody.
“Omar should not have died alone on the floor of his jail cell,” she said. “Nobody deserves to die like that.”
Baggs said the lawsuit prevents her from issuing any comment about the case — or releasing documents outside the judicial process.
“The San Diego Sheriff ’s Department sends our sincere condolences to Miss Wilson on the one-year observance of Omar Arroyo’s death,” she said by email.
But “as you are aware, there is pending litigation and it’s most appropriate those materials be provided through the attorneys.”
Wilson said her husband had been acting strangely in the hours before she called 911 last year, drilling holes in walls at the couple’s home, and he was certain that other people were in the house even though they were not.
She tried to get her husband to agree to go to the hospital, but he refused. She called 911 out of desperation and made it clear to the dispatcher that her husband’s case was psychiatric.
It was recorded as a “5150” call, a reference to the California Welfare and Institutions Code section that allows for an involuntary 72-hour hold for people in the throes of a mental health crisis.
But deputies handcuffed Arroyo as soon as they arrived, then arrested him on suspicion of being under the influence of methamphetamine and for possession of a drug pipe.
Wilson said she told deputies Arroyo had a heart condition and gave them his prescription drugs so he would not miss a dose while in custody.
The lawsuit filed in November accuses deputies of violating a department policy that calls for inmates to be placed in “a protective environment” when they are under the influence of drugs.
Attorney Julia Yoo, who with law partner Eugene Iredale has represented many inmates who died or suffered serious injuries in San Diego County jail, filed the lawsuit on Wilson’s behalf. She said the sheriff and others regularly deny families of inmates information and documents they are entitled to.
“The county continues a decade-long practice of delays, cover-ups and deception when dealing with grieving families,” Yoo said. “And that’s emblematic of the county officials’ persistent and steadfast refusal to recognize people’s humanity and pain.”
Baggs said the Sheriff’s Department will continue to adhere to the state Government Code but will release exempted information when it serves the best interest of the public.
“We are also reviewing a number of policies related to jail deaths and anticipate changes in coming months,” the department spokeswoman said.
“While it’s premature to comment on those changes, we are identifying ways to increase public trust while maintaining investigative integrity and compliance with the law.”
The lawsuit is pending in U.S. District Court in San Diego.