Vigil Held For Gilroy Man Who Died In Police Struggle

GILROY, CA — Family members of a Gilroy man who died Sunday in a struggle with Gilroy police officers held a vigil Monday night at Martin and Chestnut streets, near the site of his death. Relatives identified the man to news crews as Steven Juarez, and said they believe Juarez may have died at the hands of police.

Rebeca Armendariz, who identified herself as a cousin of Juarez, said witnesses told her they saw a group of officers beating the man. The cousin told NBC Bay Area that the man's mother was told her son died from blunt force trauma.

"The witnesses said that they kept beating on him and that he was calling and pleading for them to stop," she told NBC Bay Area.

Gilroy police say the man, a 42-year-old resident of Gilroy, ran from officers who responded at about 9:55 a.m. Sunday to a report of a suspicious man in the backyard of a residence in the 7400 block of Chestnut Street. Police say the man was seen on the top of at least two roofs as they chased him, and that a witness reported hearing a sound consistent with someone falling.

Police say that when officers caught up with the man, he was bleeding from his face.

Police confirmed physical force, as well as a Taser and a carotid restraint were used by officers as they tried to take the man into custody.

The man "acted violently and resisted their efforts and made threatening statements," police said in a news release.

At some point during the ensuing struggle, officers noticed the man was in medical distress, police said. The officers tried life-saving measures and summoned paramedics with the Gilroy Police Department.

The man was taken to a trauma center at a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Monday night, Gilroy police Capt. Joseph Deras told NBC Bay Area that Juarez refused to comply and resisted. Officers did everything by the book, he said.

"The District Attorney's Office has been in our building all day and all night interviewing these involved officers," he told reporters. "So if there was any type of allegation or suspicion that a gang of officers beat someone up, I can assure you that they would be taking proper steps to rectify that through the legal system."

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