VALLEJO, Calif. - Vallejo police have killed 19 people since 2010, renewing calls for criminal justice reform and a request for federal oversight of the department.
None of the officers have been charged criminally for any of these shootings in the last decade, as each case was deemed justified because officers feared for their lives. Yet, many of their families say that police have acted with excessive force and have given false accounts about why they felt the need to shoot and kill their loved ones are false.
NAME: Eric Walters, 46
DATE KILLED: Feb. 8, 2009
OFFICERS: Greenberg, Jensen, Poyser, Scott and Wylie
NARRATIVE: Eric Walters called 911 saying he was depressed, heavily armed and wanted to commit suicide. Police say he pointed gun at officers when they arrived. Police phoned Walters and tried to persuade him to surrender peacefully, but he came out of his garage and pointed a rifle at the officers, who responded by opening fire.
NAME: Michael White, 47
DATE KILLED: June 15, 2010
OFFICERS: Barry Boersma, Herman E. Robinson
NARRATIVE: Police said Michael White assaulted his elderly neighbor. When they tracked White down they said he was delusional and irrational. A struggle ensued. Officers said they tried several control techniques and shot White with Taser guns he continued to charge at them. He ended up dying at the hospital. His family filed a wrongful death lawsuit saying he did not pose a serious threat to the officers and died after an unnecessary and prolonged exposure to being tased.
NAME: Guy Jarreau Jr., 34
DATE KILLED: Dec. 11, 2010
OFFICER: Kent Tribble
NARRATIVE: Police say they killed Guy Jarreau Jr. because he was brandishing a firearm. His mother, Andrea Jarreau-Griffin, filed a suit against the department, claiming her son?s hands were in the air and he was shot to death making an anti-violence music video. The suit alleges that members of the film crew and friends said the officer was wearing plain clothing at the time and gave no warnings before firing his weapon.
NAME: Sherman Peacock, 45
DATE KILLED: Feb. 12, 2011
OFFICER:
NARRATIVE: Sherman Peacock was shot and killed after police say he pointed a large-caliber revolver at officers after leading them on a low-speed chase. Police said Peacock refused to exit the vehicle for several minutes and was shot when he suddenly came out of the car with a revolver and pointed it at officers.
NAME: Peter Mestler, 53
DATE KILLED: May 24, 2012
OFFICER:
NARRATIVE: Police say they shot Peter Mestler because he had pulled what looked like a real gun on a cabbie, his passenger and a woman walking on the street. The officers told Mestler to stop, but he reached into his jacket, pulled out the gun and refused to drop it after they told him to, police said. The officers opened fire, killing Mestler.
In the end, the weapon was a Beretta Cougar BB pistol.
NAME: Anton Barrett Sr., 41
DATE KILLED: May 28, 2012
OFFICER: Sean Kenney
NARRATIVE: Two officers assigned to look for drunken drivers saw a driver in a white Lexus driving fast without his lights on and they tried to stop him. It turned out to be Anton Barrett Sr., who led them on a chase. He fled along with his son and another passenger. The chase ended up in between two apartment buildings. Kenney ordered Barrett at gunpoint to stop and put his hands up, but he continued running at the officer, police said.
Barrett then reached into his pocket and pulled out a dark-colored metal object, which turned out to be a metal wallet. Kenney said he feared for his life and fired his gun. Barrett, who had five previous convictions, died at the hospital. Kenney was criminally cleared and started his own consulting firm.
NAME: Jared Huey, 17
DATE KILLED: June 30, 2012
OFFICERS: Kevin Bartlett, Jeremy Huff
NARRATIVE: Police believe Jared Huey had robbed a convenience store and chased him. During the chase, Huey?s Jeep crashed through the yard of a house and ran away. Police said he refused orders to show his hands and pointed a handgun at the officers. The officers opened fire, striking Huey multiple times, police said. But Huey's father, Michael Huey, said in his lawsuit that his son had been shot while his hands were in the air. Jared Huey was also yelling, "Don't shoot! No! No!" said the suit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Sacramento. His family settled their wrongful death suit.
NAME: Marshall Tobin, 44
DATE KILLED: July 4, 2012
OFFICERS: Robert Kerr, Joe McCarthy
NARRATIVE: The officers responded to a domestic violence call but when the arrived, they found that Marshall Tobing had driven to Safeway. Tobin got out of the car with a gun, police said, and he appeared ?distraught.? They said he refused to put his hands on his head, and they stunned him with a Taser. At that point, Tobin grabbed his own gun, and the police killed him.
NAME: Mario Demeekus Romero, 23
DATE KILLED: Sept. 2, 2012
OFFICERS: Sean Kenney, Dustin Joseph
NARRATIVE: Police on patrol thought they remembered Mario Demeekus Romero from another incident and pulled up on two men parked inside. Police said the driver got out and had a gun in hand. Both officers, Sean Kenney and Dustin Joseph, fired, killing Romero with 30 bullets and injuring his passenger. Kenney found a pellet gun in the car behind the driver?s seat. According to his obituary, everyone called Romero ?Papaya.? He was a self-employed musician. He enjoyed playing football, cooking and was especially fond of Mexican food. The officers were administratively cleared. Joseph now works for the Fairfield police department.
NAME: Jeremiah Moore, 29
DATE KILLED: Oct. 21, 2012
OFFICERS: Sgt. Brett Clark, Ofc. Megan Sheridan, Ofc. Sean Kenney #620
NARRATIVE: A neighbor saw Jeremiah Moore and a friend, naked and smashing the windows of their own cars, parked in front of their house, which was on fire. Police said Moore then "appeared from the back of the interior of the house with a rifle? and placed the barrel of it on an officer?s stomach. Officer Sean Kenney saw this and fearing for his life and the life of his fellow officer, immediately discharged his firearm Moore. He died and his friend was charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest and battery on a peace officer, but those charges were dropped.
Jeremiah Moore?s mother said her son's disorder gave him a tendency to follow commands. Kenney was administratively and criminally cleared.
NAME: William Heinze, 42
DATE KILLED: March 20, 2013
OFFICERS: Dustin Joseph, Ritzie Tolentino, Joshua Coleman
NARRATIVE: William Heinze was wanted on burglary and narcotics warrants and had an extensive criminal history that included convictions for robbery, battery on a custodial officer, domestic violence, narcotics and being a felon in possession of a firearm, police said. Police first arrived that day after receiving reports that a man, believed to be Heinze, was pointing a rifle or shotgun at people on the street. He barricaded himself inside the house and threatened to kill himself and police if his demands weren?t met. Police fired inside the home and killed him. The officers were cleared criminally, Afterward, superiors recommended the officers receive more shooting position training.