Posted on 02/24/2017 9:06:21 AM PST by nickcarraway
Oid Sheriff’s deputies violate procedure during a September 2016 welfare check?
NBC Bay Area’s Investigation raises questions about whether Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Deputies violated their own policies and procedures leading up to the shooting of Saratoga homeowner Eugene Craig in September, 2016. Senior Investigative Reporter Stephen Stock reports in a video that first aired on Feb. 23, 2017.
An attorney for the family of 86 year-old Eugene Craig says sheriff’s deputies violated their own department policy when they kicked in the doors and confronted Craig in his living room during what was supposed to be a “wellness” or “welfare” check.
The attorney, Dennis Luca, a long-time retired San Jose Police officer, turned civil attorney, was originally hired by Craig’s 90 year-old widow after the shooting last fall.
“Simply put, they did not follow established policy and procedure that virtually all police departments, sheriff's office follow regarding the escalation of force,” said Luca.
The widow wanted Luca to look into the September 12, 2016, shooting death of her husband, a Navy Veteran, described by friends who knew him for decades as a “war hero.” Close family friends describe the 86 year-old Eugene Craig as a Navy aviator war hero who helped land airplanes on carriers in the middle of the night during the Korean War.
“If you're there at someone's house to check on their welfare, why do you kick two doors down at night time when my client is 86 years old, his wife is 90, and they live alone at that house and they have for years?” asked Luca.
A family friend who says he’s known the Craigs for decades and was outside the home at the time of the shooting raises similar questions about whether the deputies followed proper procedure and their own policies.
“Gene died because of it,” said Ron “Ronnie” Roberts. “And there was no reason for it.”
Though the Craig family hired another law firm to represent their interests in February, 2017, before he was replaced Luca interviewed the widow and those who were at the home at the time of the shooting. Luca and his firm also collected evidence that he says shows the retired Navy veteran did not have to die standing in his own home with his wife by his side.
Sheriff’s records show this wasn’t the first time deputies had gone to the Craig’s home on Titus Avenue in Saratoga.
Since 2011 they’d been there six times before—twice for medical calls and “suspicious circumstances” and once each for vandalism and an abandoned vehicle call. Click here for calls to service to the Craig home.
Friends, family and a source within the Santa Clara Sheriff’s office all say that because of that history deputies who worked that area were familiar with the elderly couple living there. On September 12, 2016, deputies went to Craig’s home for a “wellness” or “welfare” check after someone from outside the home called requesting it.
That “wellness check” was not because of any reported crime and it ended up in the shooting death of Craig as he stood inside his own home.
The official press release from that incident released by the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s office right after the shooting says the deputies went to the 1200 block of Titus Avenue around dusk on September 12, 2016, believing an elderly person inside had medical issues.
The Sheriff’s official news release says that after calling out for about fifty minutes, deputies tried to force their way through the front door.
Because the door was steel encased the deputies couldn’t force entry and so the news release says they tried another location and went through a side door.
There they found Eugene Craig who, according to the official news release “displayed” a .38 caliber revolver, prompting Sergeant Douglas Ulrich to shoot Craig where he stood in his own home.
“The deputies gave him several verbal commands to drop the firearm and a deputy shot the individual,” said Lt. James Jensen, a spokesman for the Santa Clara Sheriff’s office on the day after the shooting.
Picture showing overall scene through side door into living area. Pictures obtained by NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit and never before shown publicly show both the backdoor into the garage and the side door into the home forced open.
The Investigative Unit took another picture showing a bullet hole in the side door frame leading into the house. It was a shot that missed.
Another picture appears another shot through the side door which apparently missed the Craigs, who were standing a few feet inside the door according to what Eugene Craig’s widow told attorney Luca. In that picture a bullet hole is visible high in the wall behind where the couple had been standing.
Picture showing where bullet missed and hit wall behind where Craigs stood.
“From the information we have, they turned a welfare check, meaning is everybody OK, into a deadly force situation,” said attorney Luca. A situation “that resulted in an 86 year-old man being shot multiple times and killed in his own house.”
“They went from window to window shining lights in,” Ronnie Roberts said describing what he saw when he arrived at the Craig’s home.
Roberts said he saw several deputies milling about the house with flashlights around the windows when he got to there. He estimates he arrived 15 to 20 minutes before the shooting. Roberts went to the house at the request of another friend, Jim Marshall.
Marshall told NBC Bay Area that he got a call from Eugene Craig that night asking for him to come over.
The retired navy man whom both Marshall and Roberts said was hard of hearing, told Marshall he thought someone was outside his house trying to break in.
“Every Wednesday night, we have dinner with them for the past couple of years,” Marshall told NBC Bay Area. “It’s the only outing that they usually take. this particular Wednesday, happened to be their last Wednesday at hometown buffet which is where we always met.”
“Gene had no thoughts about this in the first place. That this would ever happen,” said Marshall That night both Ron Roberts and Marshall say Roberts was closer to the home than Marshall and so he got there first.
When he arrived, he says he says volunteered to go up to the house and make contact with Eugene Craig whom he told deputies he knew. But Roberts says he was told to stand back by deputies.
“All they had to do was let me go in the house,” said Roberts. “I could have got in to the door, I could’ve called him, I could’ve done anything, but they wouldn’t let me do anything. Just stay there, stay back out of the way.”
Only later did it become apparent that Craig mistook the deputies with flashlights walking around the house for burglars. He never called 9-1-1. Instead he called his friend. “I heard a bam, b-b-b-b-bam,” said Roberts “There was at least six shots.”
Roberts says he was standing on the driveway when he saw four officers try to break down the front door. Fail. Then run around back and Roberts said he heard them kick in the back door to the garage.
“And then a few minutes later, I heard them kicking the next door. And I heard a single shot and then just as soon as that shot, there was five or six other shots. And real fast. B-b-b-b-bam,” Roberts said. “I heard the screaming, you know. ‘Oh! Oh!’ and then the back up, I heard them holler, ‘gun!’ before the first shot.”
According to the official autopsy report, Craig was hit by four bullets to the chest and pelvis. The reports said the 86 year-old was grazed once.
Add in the two bullet holes in the door frame and wall, and it matches the number of shots Ron Roberts says he heard.
“They (deputies) didn't progress through the steps necessary, and that's why I say they created the deadly force event. Not Mr. Craig, who has a right to be in his house. He hadn't committed a crime,” said attorney Luca. “He has a right to be safe in his house like all of us do. The police just can't kick doors, come into the house and start shooting.”
According to Santa Clara County Sheriff’s written policy, the use of force entering buildings “will be practiced with the utmost restraint” “and only after all reasonable alternatives have been exhausted.” The policy on potential hostage or barricaded subject situation also says officers on such scenes should “request the field supervisor.” Ronnie Roberts and Jim Marshall want to know why those procedures were, in their view, not followed.
“Why they didn’t have supervisors there, why they didn’t try to negotiate, why they didn’t break a window and put a phone in the house,” asked Roberts.
A sheriff’s department source in a position to know told NBC Bay Area that neither a Lieutenant nor a Captain were called to the scene until after the shooting.
The source says the swat team wasn’t called either… nor was a negotiator… no tear gas… no intercom… no loudspeaker.
The Sheriff’s Department source worries about the legal justification—what’s called exigent circumstances—that would have made it allowable for deputies to force their way into the home.
Sergeant Ray Kelly is a spokesman for Alameda County Sheriff’s office who would not speak to the specific circumstances about Eugene Craig’s home. But Kelly did discuss, in general, how law enforcement is typically trained when called to a welfare check.
“Welfare calls can run the gamut of interest for people and people have different motives and reasons to do it,” said Kelly. “So we don't put a lot of credibility in anonymous…welfare checks.” It’s a situation Kelly says law enforcement officers around the state encounter all the time.
“Those calls are very common and we do go to several of those type of calls every day, throughout the year all the time,” Sergeant Kelly said.
“There are certain things that allow us to immediately violate the Fourth Amendment and go into a location. That's exigency, which is basically a fancy word for emergency,” said Kelly. “In some of those cases it’s better to kind of just walk away and come back and then keep reassessing. Use alternative means to maybe find (information.)”
“Go talk to the neighbors have you seen this person? Look to see are there newspapers piled up at the door? Is there mail piled up in the mailbox? Are there any notices on the doors? Is there any running water? Things like that.” Sergeant Kelly said.
“So those are things you balance and so it's up to you at that point as an officer to maybe notify your supervisor, have your supervisor or other officers kind of come together and make a reasonable conclusion as to what you should do,” said Sgt. Kelly. “And sometimes the most reasonable thing to do is to just walk away.”
Attorney Dennis Luca and Ronnie Roberts said deputies at the Craig home didn’t do any of that.
“Those (exigent) circumstances can't be created by the police,” Luca said. “They (deputies) are either objectively there or not. If the police had shown up and they had heard a gunshot, they'd heard screaming, they would have had to make a split second decision. Do we go in to protect our lives or the lives of somebody else? That is not the situation they were confronted with objectively when they arrived.”
“It didn't have to happen. It shouldn't have happened,” said Luca. “And now I have a 90 year-old woman who is alone, who was married for many years to a war veteran, a pilot, and now she has no one. That's not a tragedy. That is horrific.”
We asked the sheriff’s department numerous times to answer questions about this shooting or to explain their policies and procedures and why they apparently weren’t followed. But the sheriff’s department refused comment citing what they say is still an active investigation.
They also would not let us speak with Sergeant Douglas Ulrich whom they identified as firing the fatal shots.
We contacted the new attorney representing the Craig family. He had no further comment.
It was.’t a problem for these officers at all. They high fived and went home. They probably be promoted. For the 86 year old man who lived there, it was one hell of a problem. It waas the old man that had the problem. Not the police.
Amen to that.
And I think that they broke in. If you want to enjoy a long happy life today, My FRiend, stay far away from the police. These are not the police I grew up with. Back then they were one of us. They treated us as equals and respect and we treated them as equals and returned the respect. But it is different today, so the best thing to do is to avoid contact with them.
I agree, but the chances of it happening are slim too none.
Would you like to place a bet on that?
What about the poor soul that was killed. His wife is now a widow and old in age with no one to take care of her. And she will probably have to sell the house, because it will probably be too hard emotionally for her to live where her husband had his life unnecessarily taken. That is where my sympathies lie. But each to his own.
Nully, If you want to live a long happy life , stay far, far away from the police. This is another example of that.
I don’t bet, but you could be right.The old gentleman could have been in such bad condition health wise that they did him a favor. Normally, one being killed is a problem for one. And on second thought, you are right. But as far as the police go, from what I read in the past when I read the news,The State Attorney will declare that according to the facts of our investigation, the officers followed departmental policy, therefore, no charges will be filed against them. Same goes for when I used to listen to the news of similar situations. If the old man had been politically connected, charges may be filed. If the old man had been a member of one of the protected classes, charges will definitely be filed.But since, from what is known, the old man was just an ordinary joe who on If any thing did his job and did his duties,if anything happens, it would be a miracle. It could happen. Perhaps they have been looking for a way to get rid of the cop for one reason or another.
Avoiding contact is all well and good, but they will use their "authority" to force contact on you.
My bet is that the cops are in trouble, big trouble in fact. The truly damning fact being how they brushed off the person that knew him and offered to help.
Understood. We know now that most Big City police do not like for their slaves to be armed and able to protect themselves. When they cannot stop or prevent the serf from arming or protecting themselves, they make an example[ usually as in this case, a dead one] said serf. Hoping to intimidate, frighten, discourage, and or otherwise convince the serfs from attempting to defend their selves. At one time long age in the past the terms serf and slaves would have been replaced with the term Citizen.
In fact, recently Grady Judd the Sheriff of Polk County, Florida advised the Citizens of his County to obtain a firearm in order to defend themselves because,”We can’t be everywhere at once”
I hope that you are correct. But I will wait until I see it happen before I believe it. They should be required to stand trial for Second Degree Murder, though I would prefer First Degree Murder.
I seriously doubt that they went their with a preconceived plan to kill him, which is what 1st degree murder is. This was just very bad judgement.
Why exactly do you hate law enforcement so vehemently?
I don’t hate law enforcement. Honest Officers such as Grady Judd of Polk County, Florida and David Clark I respect and admire. Crooked cops that violate the oath they swore and mistreat people because they can, I do not have any use for, but you can have all of them you want. The Officers that I grew up with were all respected and treated as equals. They, in turn respected us and treated us as equals. When a bad apple got in, they got rid of them. “Law Enforcement” is an abstract term. The good Officers in my neighborhood get along good. I show them respect. They show me respect. The ones that say are assholes, keep away from them. I do that.
But you can have all the crooked ones, the ones that enjoy abusing their badges and violating the oath they swore, the ones that like to beat people up and abuse them. But each to theiir own, I guess.
For the sake of argument thought let's assume they are crooked. What were they hoping to gain by killing this 86 year old man?
I think they are just ill-equipped, psychologically, to be good cops. That may not even extend to all of them present. I can't really remember, but if I remember correctly only one policeman fired his weapon. If I further remember correctly, he was the one in charge, or at least assumed that role.
The real bottom line here though is the fact that someone who knew the occupants was present. They could have allowed hi to call the residence to get someone on the phone. At the very least they should have gotten a profile from that person to know some very relevant facts, such as the hard of hearing factor of probably both the husband & wife. Their age meaning their senses of sight & hearing were most likely not very good. If you give verbal commands to someone who can't see good, and doesn't recognize you to be law enforcement in the dark, and hearing bad that your commands are not clearly heard is a recipe for disaster,
One must also look at this from the perspective of the police. When someone you are giving verbal commands to does not obey, then your defenses shoot way up, and you assume your life in now in real jeopardy.
There are so many things we do not know, but they will come out in trial.
I think the final verdict could be a charge of manslaughter - the crime of killing a human being without malice aforethought, or otherwise in circumstances not amounting to murder. It might end up being the correct outcome, because I seriously doubt that any of them went in with the intention of killing anyone.
The old lady will receive a handsome sum, one or more police will pay by imprisonment, loss of income & career, and separation from their families. It may even cause the disintegration of their family, but most of all knowing you killed an innocent person. There will be no happy ending for any of the people involved.
For those very reasons, I would never be a policeman. One wrong move can cost so many so much, even when the best of outcomes was the one desired. For me at least, had they allowed the person who knew the couple to intervene, it would have had a higher chance of a positive outcome.
I still do not think that there will be a trial.What makes you think so? Have they been arrested? Have they been suspended without pay? Have they been fired? Has a Grand Jury been convened? Have they been indicted? I do not think that I mentioned that these were crooks. If I did, I was in error and out of line. But this is not the first time something like this has happened and it won’t be the last. Just the police doing their job. Until it happens to you[collectively] and your [collectively] family. Then it is a whole new ball game.
I don’t hate law enforcement. Honest Officers such as Grady Judd of Polk County, Florida and David Clark I respect and admire. Crooked cops that violate the oath they swore and mistreat people because they can, I do not have any use for, but you can have all of them you want.
It could be possible that I misunderstood your intent with your statement above, but since you want them preferably charged with 1st degree murder, or at least 2nd degree murder, I may have assumed you were referring to these cops a being the crooked kinds of cops you despise.
Even cops hate dirty cops, because they reflect badly on all cops. The natural instinct is to not believe your fellow coworker is a dirty cop, because they are all under the gun with regards to second guessing of the actions taken in split second assessments that could mean the difference of them being killed or not being killed.
No they have not been arrested as of yet. According to the article this happened in September of 2016, and:
We asked the sheriff’s department numerous times to answer questions about this shooting or to explain their policies and procedures and why they apparently weren’t followed.
But the sheriff’s department refused comment citing what they say is still an active investigation.
They also would not let us speak with Sergeant Douglas Ulrich whom they identified as firing the fatal shots.
That doesn't mean charges will not be brought, even though it seems like they are dragging their feet. It could even be the DA who is the holdup concerning one or more arrests in this case. Being California is why I believe there will eventually be an arrest made.
Evidently your a reporter.
P.S. I despise the press, especially the liberal MSM. They are wrong too. No, I do not despise you, just disagree with you on this point.
I was just wondering the way you twisted [to me] my words. I never mentioned the guys that killed the old man, other to than saying nothing would happen to them. But I might not have been clear.
Have a blessed Day.
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