Officers cleared in South San Francisco deadly taking pictures | Native Information

San Mateo District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe has released four police officers who were involved in the fatal shooting of a man who repeatedly tried them with a knife on Easter Sunday in April in South San Francisco.

Following an investigation, Wagstaffe announced Thursday that the officers had not violated California criminal laws and that there was no basis for filing criminal charges against them. Officers include South San Francisco Police Officer Andrew Hyde and Michael Valdes, Cpl. Chris Devan and San Francisco Police Sgt.William Pon.

The April 12 incident resulted in the death of Justin Silvernale, a 35-year-old man from Antioch who stole or attempted to steal three vehicles that day and attacked a civilian and one of the officers listed above.

Silvernale is also suspected of brutally murdering a 41-year-old man named Catono R. Perez in San Francisco. Perez’s severed head and body parts were found in a refrigerator in his home on the 1600 block of the Great Highway in April.

After Silvernale was killed by police, they found Perez’s ID in his possession and his pants were stained with Perez’s blood, Wagstaffe said. The San Francisco Police Department is actively investigating this case.

Wagstaffe said Silvernale has a “long history of mental illness” and failed to see his practitioners in the months, if not a year, before his deadly fight with police.

In the early hours of the morning that day, Silvernale stole a rental car from the rental facilities at San Francisco International Airport and drove it to the parking lot of a trailer in South San Francisco. There he tried unsuccessfully to steal a second vehicle before attempting a third vehicle at a nearby Chevron station at 110 Hickey Blvd., according to prosecutors. to steal.

At around 5:30 a.m., a witness watched Silvernale approach a car parked at one of the gas pumps and occupied by a man named Ancieto Bagadiong. According to Bagadiong, he had just filled up his car when Silvernale grabbed his arm, hit him in the face and chest, and pulled him out of the car. Silvernale got into the car and tried to start it, but the keys were still with Bagadiong. When Silvernale noticed this, he returned to Bagadiong and repeatedly kicked him in the face and chest with a stamping motion, said Wagstaffe.

Bagadiong called for help and was heard by Pon, who was off duty at the time and refueled his car at the same gas station. Approaching the source of the screams, Pon found Silvernale standing over Bagadiong, punching and kicking him when he was on the ground. According to prosecutors, blood was visible on Silvernale’s pants.

Pon described that, according to Wagstaffe, Silvernale has a “thousand meter long look” and looks like a wild animal.

Pon hit Silvernale when he identified himself as a police officer and ordered him to get on the ground. Although a gun was aimed at him, Silvernale attacked again Pon, who was able to throw him away again with one blow.

Pon then bent down to get his handcuffs when Silvernale slapped him in the face. Pulling back to create distance, Pon found that, according to prosecutors, Silvernale had a box cutter-type knife in his right hand.

With his gun drawn, Pon ordered Silvernale to stop again, warning him he would shoot him if he didn’t. Silvernale replied, “Go ahead and kill me, kill me,” said Wagstaffe. As Silvernale came closer to him, Pon shot a round at Silvernale, hit him in the lower abdomen and let him fall to the ground.

“Pon had the feeling that he had no alternative at this point, as Silvernale closed the distance quickly and would have overtaken him within a few steps,” wrote Wagstaffe in a letter. “Pon feared for his safety and believed that Silvernale, who had already injured Mr. Bagadiong, was ‘completely out of control’ and would kill him if he had the chance.”

While he was on the ground, Silvernale made cutting motions across his throat with the knife. Pon tried to tell him not to hurt himself and Silvernale replied several times and said, “Just kill me.” Pon called the police and watched while he waited as Silvernale used a pole to get back to her feet, which was still in possession of the knife. Pon told the answering officers, including Hyde, what had happened, and they approached Silvernale, one with a taser drawn and the other with a pistol. Silvernale was hit with multiple taser shots and each time fell to the ground and, according to the prosecutor, got up quickly.

Finding that Silvernale was “considering suicide by police officers,” the officers attempted to de-escalate the situation by increasing the distance between them and Silvernale and refusing to fire their handguns at him.

“Corporal Devan later stated that given limited information, the fact that Silvernale was armed with a knife, and concerns that Silvernale was attempting suicide, he did not believe that lethal force should be used at this point,” Wagstaffes said Letter.

During the fight, Silvernale managed to steal one of the police patrol cars and the police again refused to shoot him. The officers followed Silvernale for less than a mile and followed him into the Kaiser Medical Center parking lot at 295 Hickey Blvd. in Daly City. The officers surrounded Silvernale, who accelerated on them and almost hit one of them, but the officers were still holding their fire, according to prosecutors.

Silvernale finally got out of the car, knife in hand, ignoring further orders to get to the ground. He then attacked officers and as he approached them Hyde fired a shotgun while Devan and Valdes fired five and four shots respectively at him, Wagstaffe said. Silvernale took two or three steps towards the officers before collapsing.

“The behavior of the officers was objectively appropriate and necessary to defend human life,” concluded Wagstaffe in a letter.

Pon suffered bruises and cuts on his neck and face and pain in his left wrist. Bagadiong suffered bruises and swelling in both eyes and nose, a wound on his cheek and a seven centimeter injury to the underside of a foot, which, according to the prosecutor, had to be stitched, among other things.