FAMILY, FRIENDS AND ADVOCATES convened at Brentwood City Hall on Wednesday to demand answers following the death of 72-year-old Yolanda Ramirez, who family members say died from a brain bleed shortly after a Brentwood Police Department officer slammed her against a car.
Speaking to a reporter outside City Hall before City Council chambers opened to the public, Yolanda’s son Ricardo (Rich) Ramirez said he wanted to know why BPD’s statement on his mother’s death was inconsistent with eye-witness accounts of what happened on Sept. 26, when a family argument among two elderly sisters resulted in police response. In the Nov. 5 statement, BPD alleged that Yolanda fled but the department did not address accusations that officers slammed her head into the patrol vehicle, saying only that she was detained.
Rich said his mother’s sister never requested a citizen’s arrest and Yolanda didn’t flee. He also took issue with the portion of BPD’s statement that indicated her condition worsened at the hospital.
“My mom’s condition was the worst it was going to get when she was aggressively forced in the back seat of the police vehicle,” Rich said. “My mom never gained consciousness after that. Neighbors witnessed the medical and police personnel pulling my mom out of the back seat and carrying her unconscious body to the ambulance.”
The family’s attorney Melissa Nold filed a claim against the city on their behalf Nov. 3. The claim detailed the morning of Sept. 26 which started with Yolanda attempting to take her brother to a medical appointment, when she got into an argument with her sister. According to the claim, Yolanda was forced to her knees by one of the officers, handcuffed too tightly and slammed against the police car before being placed inside. When she became nonresponsive, she was transported to Kaiser Permanente Antioch Medical Center and then John Muir Hospital for surgery to repair a brain bleed. She died Oct. 3.
Nold criticized the officers for not informing the medics that she had sustained a head injury or communicating with the family thereafter. She further said she was baffled as to why her team appeared to be the first to interview witnesses, saying that when she filed the claim a month later, none had been interviewed by BPD regarding the incident.
If they’re willing to do this to elderly people, imagine what they’re willing to do to undocumented people who are afraid to come forward.
Melissa Nold, Ramirez family’s attorney
“If you don’t want to know what people have to say, you don’t ask them,” said Nold. “If they’re willing to do this to elderly people, imagine what they’re willing to do to undocumented people who are afraid to come forward.”
In its statement, BPD said it would release body-worn camera and dash camera footage “in accordance with the law and Contra Costa County’s law enforcement involved fatal incident protocol.”
Nold cited California law that requires the release of body camera footage within 45 days of an incident, meaning the footage of the Sept. 26 event should have been made available Nov. 10.
Citing pending litigation, interim Chief Walter O’Grodnick was unable to respond to requests for comment.
The Contra Costa District Attorney has opened an investigation into the case. Ted Asregadoo, DA public information officer, anticipated the final report to be ready in six months.
Rich said his mother was the heart and soul of their family and recalled the heartbreaking final moments of her life.
“A lot of my family stepped out when they took out her breathing tube, and I watched her struggle for 40 minutes,” he said. “It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. I saw her take her last breath, felt the warmth of her body leave. It haunts me. Haunts me.”