Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: May 2, 2008

Contact person(s):

Media Coordinator, Donna Edwards - 565-3099 Media Spokesperson, Assistant District Attorney Christine Cook

Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California

SANTA ROSA POLICE OFFICERS CLEARED IN SHOOTING OF SUSPECT

District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua announced today that his office has completed its review of the investigation into the death of Richard Timothy DeSantis. After reviewing all the evidence and the totality of the circumstances, the District Attorney concluded that the involved police officers acted lawfully and criminal charges are not warranted.

On April 9, 2007, Santa Rosa Police Department police officers responded to a report of shooting inside a residence on South Avenue in Santa Rosa. Numerous officers responded, and ultimately, two officers fatally shot a male resident, Richard Timothy DeSantis.

The decedent lived at the residence with his wife, their two year old daughter and his wife’s eight year old son. Decedent had been hospitalized several times in 2004 and 2006 for reported delusional and paranoid behavior. Decedent also had a history of methamphetamine use. During the first week of April, 2007, decedent’s wife suspected he was using methamphetamine and he admitted to her that he had been using methamphetamine earlier in the week.

On April 8, 2007, decedent and his family visited his mother’s house in Vallejo. During that visit, decedent engaged in bizarre behavior and accused his mother of being a “terrorist.” The family returned to Santa Rosa about 6:00 p.m. That evening, decedent’s mood got progressively worse. He talked about wanting to fight in Iraq in the infantry and obtain many “kills.” He kept looking at the ceiling and insisting that there were people in the attic who were going to attack his family.

At approximately 12:00 a.m., now April 9th, decedent claimed to hear something in the attic, left the room and came back with a handgun. He did not say a word, but started shooting holes in the ceiling. His wife grabbed their daughter, fled from the room and called 9-1-1 from the kitchen. Decedent attempted to knock the phone out of the wall, but was unsuccessful. Decedent’s wife told the 9-1-1 operator, “My husband is bipolar. He is having a manic episode. My husband just shot into the ceiling with a firearm.” She told the dispatcher that the gun was in the bedroom and said, “I’m gonna go. He’s not going to hurt anything but he thinks he hears people in the attic but there is no one there. He is having these paranoid delusions. He is manic, and he is bipolar.” Meanwhile, more gunshots went off that were audible to the dispatcher. Decedent’s wife told the dispatcher that her two year old and eight year old children were in the house.

Santa Rosa Police Officers were dispatched to the scene as a report of shooting inside a residence Sgt. Celli responded in his patrol vehicle with his emergency lights and sirens activated. Meanwhile, dispatch updated officers that the male subject was armed with a Glock pistol, known by Sgt. Celli to be an accurate and reliable handgun. Officers Patricia Mann, Travis Menke, Daniel Jones, Jerry Ellsworth, Tanya Potter and Sgt. Jerry Soares also received this information and responded in separate patrol vehicles. The officers were aware from dispatch that there were children present in the residence.

Believing Mr. DeSantis to be armed, volatile and dangerous, Sgt. Celli requested that dispatch instruct the female caller to evacuate the house with the children. But, dispatch advised that the female was hesitant to do so. Sgt. Celli became concerned about a possible hostage scenario. Sgt. Celli advised Sgt. Soares that he would take care of the tactical aspects of the call while Sgt. Soares handled the communications. Sgt. Celli was the SWAT Sergeant and has been a member of his department’s SWAT team since 2000.

Officer Menke advised dispatch that he was on scene. As Sgt. Celli drove closer to South Avenue, he heard dispatch advise that there had been more shots fired inside the residence. At this point, Sgt. Celli became concerned that this incident could be an active shooter situation. When he arrived on scene, Sgt. Soares was present and armed with the Sage-6 Less Lethal Launcher. The Sage-6 is a less-lethal impact weapon that fires a 37 millimeter polyurethane type of projectile. Officer Jones was on scene and armed with a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle. As Sgt. Celli approached the residence, he could see Officers Menke, Mann, and Ellsworth approach the residence from the west. All of the officers dispatched to the scene were wearing standard Santa Rosa Police uniforms.

Decedent’s wife told him to walk out of the house and do what the officers said but it appeared to her that decedent wasn’t listening to her. She observed him to be still acting “totally delusional.”

The lighting conditions were poor. As Sgt. Celli surveyed the scene, he realized that the back of the tri-plex was not accessible due to a fence and terrain. He knew that he did not have enough officers available to assign one to go to the rear of the residence. Officer Menke advised on his radio that he could see the decedent in front of the residence. Sgt. Celli positioned himself on the south-east corner of the tri-plex behind a garbage can. From there Sgt. Celli could see the decedent standing in front of the residence by the steps next to a female (the wife) holding a child in her arms. Officer Menke and Officer Mann were positioned across the driveway on the south-west side. Sgt. Celli instructed Officer Menke to start talking with the decedent.

Officer Menke was carrying a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun. Officer Menke looked around the corner, down the driveway, and saw the decedent. He noticed the decedent had a shaved head, was heavy set, approximately 200 pounds, and was wearing baggy jeans with no shirt. He also saw decedent’s wife standing in front of the doorway. There was a parked vehicle in the area, so Officer Menke could only see the decedent from the waist up. He could not see the decedent’s hands or waist area. The decedent had his back toward Officer Menke at that time. Decedent then proceeded to go back inside the house. As he was starting to go back inside the house, Officer Menke shouted to him, “Stop! Let me see your hands.” Decedent put his hands up and Officer Menke instructed decendent to walk toward him, which decedent did. Sgt. Celli stepped out from behind the garbage can into the open so that decedent could see him. Sgt. Celli yelled “Police!” and he saw decedent turn and look at him. Decedent began to walk out with his hands in the air. When the decedent got within fifty feet of Officer Menke, Officer Menke ordered the decedent to stop. Officer Mann was located on Officer Menke’s right side.

Officer Menke ordered the decedent to stop and drop down to his knees. As the decedent dropped down to his knees, he dropped his hands. Officer Menke then told the decedent to put his hands on the ground in front of him, which he did. Officer Menke then told the decedent to slide down onto his stomach and look to his right, which he did. Officer Menke’s concern at this time was his and the other officers’ safety during an approach to the decedent. He knew they would be vulnerable if the decedent saw their positions while they were trying to secure him and make sure he was no longer a threat. However, decedent quickly moved his head to the right, and then back to the left. Officer Menke told the decedent, “Look to your right. Turn your head to the right!” Decedent ignored Officer Menke’s commands, and looked around two more times. He then pulled his arms back toward his body. Officer Menke ordered the decedent, “Get your arms out!” Instead, the decedent lifted up and got onto his knees. Officer Menke commanded the decedent to get on the ground yelling, “Get on your stomach! Get on your stomach!” The decedent then lay back down and put his arms out to his side. Officer Menke again directed the decedent to look to his right, but the decedent did not comply. Instead, he looked back at Officer Menke. Officer Menke ordered decedent, “Don’t get up! Don’t get up!” Despite repeating these commands several times, the decedent pulled his arms in very quickly, got into a push-up position, and took off from the ground in a sprint heading directly at Officer Menke and Officer Mann. He was approximately ten feet from Officer Menke and about fifteen feet from Officer Mann. Although the officers saw no weapons in decedent’s hands, they believed that he may still have firearms or other weapons concealed in his pants or in the small of his back. Sgt. Celli and Officers Menke and Mann believed that decedent was going to attack Officers Menke and Mann. They believed that there was a “high threat level.”

Sgt. Soares fired one round from the Sage-6 Less Lethal impact weapon. The round hit the decedent in the right arm, breaking it, but he did not stop. Decedent slowed down and looked at his arm, but then kept running directly toward Officers Menke and Mann. Sgt. Celli believed that the decedent was going to attack the officers. He then fired one round of his .223 caliber AR-15 rile at the decedent, striking him in the left side of his chest. Officer Menke thought that the decedent was “not stopping. The only reason he was coming toward me right now was to kill me; kill my partner.” Officer Menke fired one round at the decedent with his Heckler and Koch .40 caliber handgun. Officer Mann also fired one round at the decedent with her Sig Sauer P226 .40 caliber handgun. Officer Mann described that when the decedent was running at her, she was “scared for her life.” Decedent was struck with one .223 caliber bullet and one .40 caliber bullet. One of the two shots fired from the .40 caliber handguns fired by the involved officers missed decedent.

After being shot, decedent went down on this back side and stopped moving. He was handcuffed and immediately received emergency medical treatment from EMS personnel, from the Santa Rosa Fire Department, and American Medical Response. Decedent was later pronounced dead at the scene.

Officer Mann ran inside decedent’s residence to check on the welfare of Patricia and her two children. When she entered the residence, decedent’s wife was holding her two year old daughter. The eight year old was on the phone with the 9-1-1 dispatcher. Decedent’s wife picked up a small handgun that was located on the coffee table and Officer Mann took possession of it. Decedent’s wife also pointed out a rifle that was near the couch.

The Santa Rosa Police Department invoked the county-wide Officer-Involved Fatal Incident Protocol. The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department, with the assistance of the Petaluma Police Department, investigated the matter.

Sheriff’s Detectives conducting the investigation entered the decedent’s house and found in the living room a .22 caliber Glenfield Model 60 rifle and a single .357 caliber shell casing on the floor. In the bedroom, they found a Glock .357 semi-automatic handgun lying on the bed, multiple bullet holes in the ceiling, and nine spent .357 caliber shell casings and an ammunition magazine lying on the bed.

On April 10, 2007, an autopsy was performed on the decedent by forensic pathologist Kelly Arthur, M.D. She determined the cause of death to be two gunshot wounds to decedent’s upper torso, consistent with bullets being fired from a rifle and a handgun. Dr. Arthur determined that decedent had an abrasion or contusion to the right forearm with a broken radius bone. Samples of decedent’s blood and urine were taken at the autopsy. The results show his blood contained cannibinods/THC metabolite and his urine contained MDA (methylenedioxyamphetamine), indicating the presence of marijuana and a stimulant drug in his system.

The sole issue to be resolved by this report is whether the force used by the officers was justifiable under the circumstances, and thus whether the shooting was lawful.

By the time officers arrived on scene, decedent had committed the felonies of discharging a firearm at an inhabited dwelling and placing children in danger of serious bodily harm.

The officers each described their belief that they faced a very dangerous and life threatening situation. They knew that the decedent had possessed a gun, was shooting inside the residence while children were present, and that he may still have a gun concealed on his person. The defendant refused to obey numerous lawful commands by the uniformed officers at gunpoint and charged at them in a manner indicating he posed a serious risk to their safety. Before firing on the decedent, the officers saw that a less lethal projectile fired by Sgt. Soares did not stop the decedent as he ran toward them. The officers who fired each believed that the decedent posed a great risk of death or serious bodily injury to themselves and their fellow officers. Their beliefs were reasonable considering all of the circumstances as they were known and appeared to them at that time.

After reviewing the investigative reports and the statements of all witnesses, the District Attorney’s Office has concluded that the involved officers’ response with deadly force was justified under the law.