A SAN RAFAEL OFFICER CHARGED with assault and making false statements stemming from a bloody altercation in 2022 has been found not guilty, the city said last week.
Brandon Nail was acquitted by a jury for alleged assault under the color of authority and filing a false police report.
Nail was originally charged in June 2023 along with former Officer Daisy Mazariegos.
The encounter between the officers and a man began on July 27, 2022, in San Rafael’s Canal neighborhood, and the whole interaction was captured on a police body camera.
On the video, Julio Lopez, a landscaper, could be seen on an industrial side street sitting on the curb with two of his friends. They were drinking beer.
Mazariegos asked the men what they were doing and they responded, “nothing.”
Mazariegos pointed out the open containers of beer and asked to see one man’s identification.
At that point, Nail arrived. As the man stood up, seemingly to get his ID from his pants, Nail could be heard yelling, “Hey, sit the f— down!”
Mazariegos again asked to see the man’s ID, but he said he couldn’t get it unless he stood up. As he did so, Mazariegos told him to sit down and then Nail forced him to the ground, punched him in the nose and pushed his face into the asphalt.
As the man was taken to the squad car, his face bright red with blood, he could be heard saying “I didn’t do anything.”
In August 2024, a judge dismissed all charges against Mazariegos.
On Tuesday last week after Nail’s acquittal, his attorneys released a statement about the altercation.
“After one suspect repeatedly disobeyed the officers’ orders to stay seated, and after warning him, they attempted to handcuff him for all of their safety,” said the release from the firm of Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver. “Instead of complying, the suspect tensed up, pulled his hands and arms forward, resisting the officers’ efforts to restrain him.”
Nail’s attorneys alleged he behaved consistently with his training and within standard police practice, admitting that he hit the suspect in the face.
The law firm has successfully represented many embattled officers throughout the Bay Area, including officers in Vallejo who fatally shot suspects and/or were fired for their performance on duty, successfully getting their jobs back for them.
On Tuesday, the city of San Rafael said it has “no choice” but to reinstate Nail despite firing him after an independent investigation into the violent encounter.
An arbitrator then overturned the city’s termination in late 2024, and now that he has been acquitted, the independent California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training — which suspended Nail’s peace officer certificate — told the city that it would be reinstating his certification.
Back in 2022, Police Chief David Spiller released an open letter to the community about the altercation, for which he took full responsibility, saying that his department would be conducting an investigation into it.
“I am both personally and professionally concerned about this incident and how it impacts the trust our department has worked hard to build in this community,” reads the letter. “I want to assure all members of the San Rafael community that not only is this incident being critically examined, but we will examine our behaviors, including that of our leadership, and for those department members that have fallen short, they will be held accountable.”
The Lopez case prompted the San Rafael City Council to unanimously approve the creation of a Police Advisory and Accountability Committee, which is independent of the Police Department.
Julia Fox with the law firm representing Nail said in a statement that the case was carried out to “assuage political unrest” and not because the officer “crossed the line.”
Body-worn camera footage of the scuffle went viral at the time, especially among Hispanic communities such as the Canal.
A civil right lawsuit filed by Lopez, which settled this summer for just under $1 million, alleged Nail broke his nose and gave him a concussion.
