New video shown of beating by deputies

San Francisco prosecutors on Monday played never-before-seen body-camera footage that allegedly shows two former Alameda County sheriff ’s deputies brutally beating a man who led authorities on a cross-bay chase in late 2015.

Paul Wieber and Luis Santamaria appeared before Judge Bruce Chan in San Francisco Superior Court after pleading not guilty in May to felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon. The pair were fired by the Alameda County Sheriff ’s Office in December 2016.

Monday’s preliminary hearing, held to see whether the case will move forward, featured the footage that shows an officer repeatedly using a baton to strike Stanislav Petrov, who on Nov. 12, 2015, was accused of stealing a car and ramming two patrol cruisers before leading a 38-minute chase from San Leandro to San Francisco.

Until this week’s hearing, surveillance footage released by Public Defender Jeff Adachi was the only video of the incident available to the public. The footage, which appeared to show officers taking turns striking Petrov, drew national outrage.

The body-camera footage shown in court Monday was captured by mistake, prosecu-

tors said, as Wieber accidentally switched on his body camera. It shows Wieber facing the pavement as a scuffle ensues and groans are heard. One deputy, armed with a baton, is standing in front of him and strikes toward the ground.

Deputies are heard yelling, “Get on the f—ing ground” and “Give us your hands!” followed by an expletive.

Santamaria, a field training officer that night, was tasked with providing guidance to Wieber, said Alameda County Sheriff ’s Commander Colby Staysa, who was questioned by both prosecutor Kelly Burke and defense attorneys Michael Rains and William Rapaport.

The body-camera footage was found about a week after the incident, Staysa said, because there was “some unfamiliarity” with the device.

Petrov suffered severe injuries, including a concussion, deep cuts to the head and broken bones in his hands and arms, authorities said. In April 2017, Alameda County agreed to pay him a $5.5 million settlement.

At the time, it was not department policy for deputies to turn on their body cameras during an incident involving a civilian, Staysa said. Instead, it was optional but recommended. Since then, the policy has changed.

Rains on Monday defended his clients’ actions, arguing that the body-camera footage was “awful” but didn’t show evidence of any crime.

“My strategy is to point out that the use of force that’s depicted on the video, although this is true of all police video use of force, it always looks awful, but it doesn’t make it unlawful,” he told The Chronicle.

Rains alleged that District Attorney George Gascón filed charges against Santamaria and Wieber only because of “politics,” and that the district attorney’s office intentionally sought investigators who would keep the narrative that the deputies displayed unjustifiable use of force.

He added that the defense plans to have experts and video analysts discuss what the video “really shows” when “you take a careful look at it if the case goes to trial.”

Petrov was not present in court Monday.

The preliminary hearing is expected to continue Wednesday.