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Amidst rising outrage over alleged racist police violence, a Latino Palo Alto resident says that police officers in his city unlawfully detained and brutalized him.
Julio A. says that he was enjoying a donut while riding his bicycle through a donut shop parking lot when he was violently attacked by Palo Alto police officer Thomas DeStefano Jr.
Allegedly, DeStefano and other police officers then attempted to conceal the incident by creating a false criminal case against Julio and lying on the police report. According to Julio, this instance was just one part of an alarming trend of police brutality, corruption, and subsequent cover-ups.
Julio explains that, when he was riding his bike in the donut shop parking lot on July 10, 2019, the police officers began to approach him. Allegedly, Julio recognized DeStefano as an officer who had a reputation for harassing and attacking Latino men and low-income residents of the area. He notes that a friend of his suffered unjustifiable violence at the hands of DeStefano.
Julio said that he was “dedicated to making it home” so that he could give his son a donut that he had purchased, and was “committed to being peaceful” and avoiding DeStefano so that the would not be yet another victim of DeStefano’s violence and racism. Nonetheless, DeStefano began to harass him and then the harassment escalated to violence, says Julio.
The police brutality lawsuit claims Julio was so badly beaten that he almost died, and ended up in the emergency room. Allegedly, he was knocked unconscious, suffered a traumatic brain injury, incurred a broken eye socket, and suffered injury to his wrist, knees, and legs.
He argues that DeStefano and others committed this violence without any justification. He stresses that he did not attack any of the officers, he did not have any illegal substances in his possession, he was not engaging in any illegal activity, and threatened no members of the public.
Allegedly, DeStefano did not call the fire department or medical personnel to help him, and never told anyone that Julio was slammed into the pavement so hard that he lost consciousness. While Julio was unconscious, allegedly the agent drove his left knee and full body weight into Julio’s body and handcuffed him. This instance was just element of the disturbing and sadistic acts of violence that Julio said DeStefano committed against him.
Then, he says that other officers arrived on the scene and brutalized him, still while he was helpless, barely conscious, and handcuffed.
After Julio was unlawfully arrested, not before, the officers then ran a name check on Julio. They then arrested him on bogus charges and took him to the police station in an effort to create a false criminal case against. According to Julio, he was denied medical attention and was forced to remain at the police station while in extreme distress for around two hours.
The Palo Alto police violence lawsuit goes on to explain that, after the attack, the police officers then tried to create a false criminal case against Julio in which DeStefano allegedly lied on the police report. Additionally, Lieutenant Ben Becchetti, who is reportedly a close personal friend of DeStefano, determined that the use of force against Julio was reasonable.
Nearly two hours later, DeStefano reportedly took him to the emergency room, and “minimized and mischaracterized” Julio’s obvious previous need for medical attention.
Allegedly, DeStefano wrote in his police report that he noticed that Julio’s “right eye had begun to swell and was turning black,” but did not note that Julio was injured because DeStefano had slammed him into the pavement, knocked unconscious, and otherwise brutalized him.
The Palo Alto police brutality lawsuit states that Agent DeStefano and the other officers involved in Julio’s attack were not aware that their acts of violence were being filmed by a surveillance camera of a nearby business. Allegedly, these actions are “eerily similar to past PAPD violence and unconstitutional actions.”
Despite the false criminal case launched against Julio, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office did not file criminal charges against Julio over the July 10th incident.
According to Julio, the Palo Alto Police Department has a history of brutalizing minority and underprivileged residents, causing emotional and physical trauma. He says that in many cases, these instances leave victims with an “unearned criminal history entry.” Additionally, he claims that the city enables this behavior and does not take appropriate steps to prevent it or achieve justice for victims.
Julio asserts that in a well-run and functional police department, DeStefano would have no longer been employed due to previous acts of violence, but because of the department’s dysfunction, systemic problems, and enabling of racist police violence, DeStefano was still employed and able to brutalize Julio.
How has your community responded to reports of police brutality?
Julio was represented by Cody BK Salfen of The Salfen Law Firm and by Samuel J. Gordon of The Gordon Law Firm.
The Palo Alto Police Brutality Lawsuit is Julio A. v. City of Palto Alto, et al., Case No. 5:20-cv-04157, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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