Video shows police striking suspended-license suspect
Man sues Palo Alto and its police, alleging excessive force, bias against gays
A home surveillance video obtained by this news organization shows a Palo Alto police sergeant slam the head of a man suspected of driving with a suspended license against a car windshield after police kicked down his house door and dragged him outside.
The man, Gustavo Alvarez of Palo Alto, sued the city and police department three months ago alleging officers used excessive force in arresting him without probable cause because he is gay.
Police reports and statements provided by authorities at the time of the arrest did not mention the violence against Alvarez, captured Feb. 17, 2018, by the surveillance system and coupled with audio recordings from the officers, according to Alvarez’s attorneys.
The discrepancies between the video and officers’ statements in police reports raise questions about the police department’s policies regarding the use of force, the reporting of such incidents and whether discrimination played a role in the confrontation.
Alvarez filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court against the city, the police department and six of its employees in April.
In addition to excessive force, the lawsuit further alleges that the officers, who knew Alvarez was gay from previous contacts, “mocked, made fun of and humiliated” him because of his sexual orientation while in custody and were “motivated by their hatred and prejudice of homosexual males.”
Cody Salfen, one of the two attorneys representing Alvarez, described the encounter and officers’ selective reporting of it as a “perfect storm of misconduct.”
“All of those missteps are not just things that happen as a matter of mistake. It’s a matter of intentional misconduct and intentional covering up of that misconduct after the fact,” Salfen said in a recent interview.
Alvarez spent two weeks in jail on charges of driving under the influence, driving with a suspended license and resisting an officer. But the charges were later dismissed by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office because of insufficient evidence.
Palo Alto City Manager Ed
Shikada said in a statement released Tuesday that the city would not comment on the matter since it involves active litigation.
“The public should know that the Police Department has procedures to investigate allegations of misconduct thoroughly and to hold officers accountable if misconduct is determined to have occurred,” Shikada said in the statement. “The City and the Police Department care deeply about our community and strive to provide the best service possible, expecting all City staff to treat everyone in the community fairly and with respect.”
In early May, the city of Palo Alto rejected public records requests from this news organization to obtain body camera and dashcam footage of the incident, citing
a provision in California law that protects an individual’s right to privacy. Alvarez’s attorneys, however, released copies of the surveillance video and audio recorded by the officers to this news organization on Tuesday. The city had been previously provided with a copy of the footage, according to the attorneys.
Alvarez has a criminal record that includes convictions for grand theft, driving under the influence and burglary. He installed a video surveillance system above the front door of his home in the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park nearly two years ago because of police harassment, according to the lawsuit.
That harassment culminated on Feb. 17, 2018, when Officer Christopher Conde recognized a vehicle he associated with Alvarez while on patrol and attempted to follow him to his driveway, knowing that his license was flagged as suspended
in January, according to the suit.
Conde then saw Alvarez exit the parked car in his driveway, got out of his squad car and informed Alvarez that he was being detained for driving with a suspended license, the suit states.
On the surveillance video, Alvarez can be heard repeatedly asking Conde whether he saw him driving the vehicle and eventually Conde states “I didn’t.”
When Conde was asked during court proceedings in November 2018 whether he actually saw Alvarez driving the vehicle, he admitted he did not confirm that Alvarez was in the vehicle until he saw him get out following about two seconds when his view of the vehicle was obstructed. Conde also testified he did not know whether Alvarez’s license was suspended at the time he decided to detain him, only that it was suspended the previous month.
Despite being asked by Conde to “come over to his car right now,” Alvarez enters his home and shuts the door behind him.
Conde then calls for backup and three more officers arrive at the scene, including veteran Palo Alto police Sgt. Wayne Benitez and Agent Thomas Alan DeStefano Jr.
The officers swarm Alvarez’s front door, yell for him to come outside and begin kicking the door when he does not immediately emerge. DeStefano draws his firearm and points it at the door during this time.
Although Alvarez can be faintly heard telling the officers he’s coming out, they kicked in the door and dragged him outside.
While putting handcuffs on Alvarez, Benitez strikes him across the head and then smacks his head against the car’s windshield.
After Alvarez tells the officers he’s bleeding, Benitez grabs him by the shirt and
says “You’re going to be bleeding a whole lot more.”
None of the officers was wearing body cameras and their squad cars, which contained dashcams, were not pointed toward the confrontation. The officers were wearing microphones, however, which caught the conversations.
After placing Alvarez in a squad car, audio from Benitez’s microphone captures him using the moment as a teaching lesson for the other officers.
“See how well they behave when we put our foot down?” Benitez says to another officer. “And that’s what we don’t do enough of.”
During a conversation with a tow-truck driver called to take Alvarez’s car, Benitez reenacts what had just occurred, tells the man “he’s (Alvarez) gay” and raises his voice to mimic Alvarez’s voice.
Despite the department’s policies that require supervisors to submit a use-offorce report, Benitez never filed such a form, according to Alvarez’s attorneys.
Alvarez’s suit marks at least the fourth time in recent years that the Palo Alto Police Department has been accused of excessive force.
In 2003, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office charged two Palo Alto police officers with felony assault and battery for allegedly beating a 59-yearold black motorist.
In 2011, the city paid $35,000 to settle a suit filed by a transient gardener who alleged he was unlawfully arrested and stunned with a Taser by police officers.
In 2014, a Los Altos Hills man sued the Palo Alto Police Department and Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office in federal court for allegedly arresting him unjustly during a traffic stop and depriving him of medical care after police officers broke his arm. Two years later, the city paid the man $250,000 to settle the suit.