Attorney Claims Brutality In Sonoma County Jail and Says Video Proves It

An attorney for a Forestville man who was shot more than 20 times with Tasers in the Sonoma County jail nearly two years ago is calling the incident police brutality.

A video of the Jan. 3, 2013 incident titled Sonoma County Jail Brutal Beating has been posted on YouTube and also on the Adams Fietz Trial Lawyers Facebook page.

Esa Wroth, 28, was arrested for DUI by the California Highway Patrol.

He has been charged with 11 misdemeanor counts that include DUI, assault on a custodial officer and obstructing or resisting an officer. His trial is scheduled for Dec. 11 in Sonoma County Superior Court.

“If this happens in a war zone it is a war crime,” said attorney Izaak Schwaiger in a statement on his Facebook page.

“If it happens in Sonoma County, it’s according to policy. In our view, this is just another example of how police (and the industrial prison complex) view ‘we the People.’ They are trained to scream ‘stop resisting’ as they tase you over and over and over and over and over,” Schwaiger said.

Assistant Sonoma County Sheriff Randall Walker said Wroth was “extremely intoxicated and belligerent” when he was brought to the jail by the CHP.

Wroth had head and facial injuries from a crash from driving while intoxicated but refused medical treatment while in CHP custody, Walker said.

At the jail a nurse put blood pressure cuffs and a pulse monitor on him, Walker said. “Initially he was not physically resisting but he was verbally abusive,” Walker said.

Wroth ripped off the cuffs, backed into a medic with force, and tackled a deputy to the ground, Walker said.

Wroth was rolling back and forth and kicking his legs while on the ground, and two sergeants shot Wroth with Tasers. Two deputies also punched Wroth three or four times, Walker said. Wroth pulled the barbs of the Tasers out of his body.

The succeeding Taser shots were ineffective because they were fired at close range and did not spread over more of Wroth’s body, Walker said.

Walker said Wroth was shot 23 times with the Tasers, although most of the shots were ineffective.

The deputies were aware Wroth was in pain but the pain was not making him stop resisting, Walker said.

The deputies held Wroth to the ground until an ambulance arrived about 20 minutes later, Walker said.

“It (the video) absolutely doesn’t look good, but the goal was not to injure him or let him injure them,” Walker said.

Wroth became aggressive and began fighting at the hospital. He was then taken back to the jail and posted bail about four hours later, Walker said.

Regarding the police brutality allegation, Walker said, “I think attacking a nurse is brutal and trying to bite someone is brutal.”

Walker said the sheriff’s office has used the Wroth video in training for defensive tactics and the use of Tasers since the incident at the jail.

-Bay City News

WARNING: Video is graphic and may be disturbing to some readers.