City, police officer sued over fatal shooting
Family of a man shot in February makes claim of excessive, unreasonable force
The family of a man fatally shot by a Fremont police officer in February is suing the city and the officer for allegedly using excessive force that led to his death.
Lawyers for Nana Barfi Adomako’s mother and brother have filed a complaint for damages in U.S. District Court in Oakland and is seeking a jury trial.
The complaint contends Officer James Taylor violated Adomako’s civil rights by using “excessive, unreasonable, unlawful and unnecessary” force against him on Feb. 5.
It should have been clear to Taylor that Adomako was “in the midst of some mental health breakdown or mental health crisis which necessitated the intervention of mental health professionals” when he was shot, the complaint said.
It also contends Taylor had no reason to believe Adomako “was armed, dangerous, or posed a deadly threat to anyone’s physical safety.”
A few days after the shooting, the Fremont Police Department issued a written statement detailing the incident.
According to police, just after 4 p.m. Adomako “attacked employees and was rude to customers” at a business on the 39000 block of Argonaut Way. When asked to leave, he took an employee’s phone, hit and threatened to kill him. The employee called 911 to report the incident and officers were sent to the area.
When Taylor encountered Adomako a short time later, along the south frontage road of Mowry Avenue near Sutter Drive, he repeatedly ordered him to sit on the curb. Adomako refused, according to the press release. Adomako allegedly said things like he was the “king of Fremont” and the “chief of police.”
As Taylor grabbed Adomako’s wrist in an effort to put him in a “control hold,” police said Adomako became combative and repeatedly punched the officer in the head.
Taylor then pushed a button to release his police dog from the car, but the canine bit him instead of Adomako.
That’s when police said Taylor was struck again by Adomako and felt he was at risk of being seriously injured or killed. Taylor determined his Taser would be ineffective because Adomako wore bulky clothes, so he fired three gunshots at close range into Adomako, who fell.
Another officer arrived and helped Taylor handcuff Adomako. They “called for an ambulance and began to provide field trauma medical care to Adomako,” police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics a short time later.
Taylor suffered a mild concussion, a contusion to the left side of his face, a broken finger, bruising around his left eye, scratches and abrasions on his neck and chest as well as a dog bite, police said. He was released from a hospital later that night.
Police said Taylor had recognized Adomako from three prior incidents, all of which “ended without any sort of violence.”
The complaint for damages said Taylor was negligent, “wrongly assessed the circumstances” and “violently confronted” Adomako.
“The work of police officers is always difficult,” Carl E. Douglas, the attorney for Adomako’s family, said this week. “There has been a disturbing rash of shootings of men or women that have mental issues, so it really tends to speak to the adequacy of training that law enforcement officers are required to undergo and do undergo when encountering people that might have mental issues going on at the time.”
Douglas specializes in police misconduct cases and was one of the defense attorneys in the O.J. Simpson murder case in the 1990s.
He said part of the reason for filing a lawsuit is to get all available information about the shooting, including dashcam video police have said shows part of the incident.
“The family wants to know the facts and the only
way to find the facts out is to file a lawsuit,” Douglas said.
Asked if he thought the shooting was justified, Fremont police Chief Richard Lucero said “yes” in an emailed statement to this newspaper.
“This entire set of circumstances was a very tough situation culminating in an officer having to repel a violent attack,” Lucero wrote. “In my judgment, the shooting that took place was justified and in accordance with policy.”
Fremont police spokeswoman Geneva Bosques said that after being cleared by his doctor, Taylor returned to active duty following a stint on paid administrative leave. While refusing to say exactly when Taylor returned to the force, Bosques said she believed it was “within a few weeks.” After undergoing
a “recertification,” Taylor’s police dog, Cairo, also returned to duty.
In all, the complaint makes seven separate claims against the city and Taylor, including excessive force, unreasonable search and seizure, battery, false imprisonment and negligence leading to wrongful death.
The shooting of Adomako was the first of five involving Fremont officers this year.
Fremont officers fatally shot 16-year-old Elena Mondragon near the City View Apartment Homes complex at 25200 Carlos Bee Blvd. in Hayward on March 14 during a covert operation. Police said a car she was a passenger in had rammed an unmarked police car.
Officers exchanged gunfire with 24-yearold Roger Anthony Perez in an alleyway behind a Walgreens store at 3860 Decoto Road on April 9. Perez died, although the Alameda County Coroner’s Office would later say he did so from a selfinflicted gunshot wound.
On May 29, Officer William Gourley shot 27-year-old Rolonte Simril in the parking lot of the Lucky supermarket at 5000 Mowry Ave. after police said he threatened people with a metal pipe. Simril was hospitalized and arrested.
On July 30, Officer Jessen Herm San Luis shot and killed a dog that police said had bitten off a portion of a woman’s finger at Vallejo Mill Park in Niles.
Authorities have refused to release names of the officers involved in the March and April shootings despite numerous requests from this news organization.
Douglas emphasized that police were familiar with Adomako and that he was not known to be violent.
“Though he had troubles in his past,” Douglas said, “his life did have meaning and he will be missed.”