Man who died in police custody gets identified

A man who died in police custody in Antioch last week has been identified by authorities.

Arturo Gomez Calel, 33, of San Francisco died after a struggle with police on a public roadway Feb. 24. The Contra Costa County coroner’s office released Gomez Calel’s identity Monday.

Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe and Police Chief Tammany Brooks each spoke at a news conference a day after the death. Brooks said he has called the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office to open an investigation into Gomez Calel’s death and that a separate investigation will determine whether any procedures were broken.

According to police, Gomez Calel was agitated when two officers arrived to Lone Tree Way at Ridgerock Drive, after police dispatchers received a call from a rideshare driver who said a man tried to steal his phone before fleeing the vehicle.

According to police, Gomez Calel doubted the officers were who they said they were and fled from them into traffic on Lone Tree Way. Police said Gomez Calel then banged on the window of a car stopped at a red light, and officers followed him out of fear he might be hit by a car.

Officers reached him at James Donlon Boulevard, and he fell down there and began struggling with police.

A third officer used an electric stun gun on Gomez

Calel because of the strength he showed in resisting officers, Brooks said. Gomez Calel then lost consciousness shortly after police handcuffed him.

Police administered two doses of Narcan, a drug used to reverse an opioid overdose, and also used a defibrillator, Brooks said. Gomez Calel never regained consciousness.

At the news conference last week, Brooks said officers did not apply a knee to Gomez Calel’s back or neck and that they never tried to restrict him by grabbing him around the neck. Brooks also said that the officers were not wearing body cameras because it is not required by official department policy.

Thorpe has called for police reform, and among his proposals is the use of bodyworn cameras. Brooks told reporters at the news conference last week that he “absolutely” favors their use.

Gomez Calel’s death came a week after attorneys for an Antioch family filed a claim against the department for the in-custody death of 30-year-old Angelo Quinto on Dec. 23, 2020. According to attorney John Burris, who filed the claim, Quinto died after an officer put his knee on Quinto’s neck after responding to the family home for a mental health crisis.

Family members have challenged the police account of that death, and police took more than a month to disclose the incident publicly.