Deputies IDd in case of man dying after three tasings

A naked man who allegedly smashed streetlights with his bare hands last week at a Sonoma mobile home park was tased three times before he died during an arrest by Sonoma County sheriff ’s deputies, authorities said Wednesday.

The Sonoma County Sheriff ’s Office released the names of seven deputies involved in the arrest of 44-year-old Roderic Cameron, who stopped breathing after he was placed into restraints and later died at Sonoma Valley Hospital. He lived in the Sonoma Oaks Mobile Home Park with his mother, police said.

The incident is being investigated by the Santa Rosa Police Department, based on policies requiring independent investigations of fatal law enforcement incidents.

The deputies involved were John Grohl, Nick Deguilio, Taylor Brinkman, Jeff Sherman, Aaron Hunt, Don McCarthy and Lucas Dotta, and

all seven were placed on administrative leave. They have between three and 17 years of law enforcement experience, the Sonoma County Sheriff ’s Office said.

The Santa Rosa Police Department released some details of its investigation Tuesday, including a review of body-worn camera footage and interviews with witnesses and deputies. The video footage has not been released.

Calls to 911 came in from eight residents of the Sonoma Oaks Mobile Home Park around 9:50 p.m. on March 28 to report a large naked man walking down the street, screaming and breaking streetlights with his bare hands, police said.

Two Sonoma County sheriff ’s deputies arrived and saw Cameron walking down the street with blood on his hands before he smashed another streetlight in front of them, police said.

Police described Cameron as a 6-foot-1 man weighing approximately 300 pounds. They said Cameron refused orders from the deputies to comply with their directions and began punching himself in the face.

The deputies then called for backup and two more officers arrived. One of the first responding officers fired a Taser at Cameron, who fell to the ground and began to roll toward the deputies, police said. The deputy deployed his Taser a second time, and Cameron stopped moving briefly before starting to beat his chest with his hands, police said.

Cameron resisted being placed in handcuffs by the four deputies on scene, police said, so he was tased a third time. At this point he grabbed the Taser probes and pulled them out of his body, according to police.

Three more deputies arrived and eventually got Cameron onto his stomach and into handcuffs, police said. Cameron then began kicking, prompting deputies to put him in maximum restraints — a nylon cord that loops around the waist and ankles to restrict movement, police said.

While putting him in restraints, police said, the deputies saw Cameron had stopped resisting and was no longer breathing. The cord was removed and deputies performed CPR, police said, before Cameron was taken to Sonoma Valley Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

An autopsy was completed Monday by the Marin County coroner’s office, said Lt. John Cregan, a spokesman for the Santa Rosa Police Department. The department has not received the results at this time, and a final report could be completed anywhere from a few weeks to 90 days, Cregan said.