Names released of Rohnert Park officers in deadly Taser incident

The names of two Rohnert Park Public Safety officers have been released more than two weeks after they were involved in a deadly incident with a Taser at a Rohnert Park motel.

Officers David Sittig-Wattson and Sean Huot have been placed on paid administrative leave while investigators with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office review the May 12 death of Branch Wroth.

Sittig-Wattson has been with the Rohnert Park Public Safety Department for three and a half years, and Huot has been on the force for nine months, Rohnert Park City Clerk JoAnne Buergler said in response to a public records request. No other information on the officers was provided.

Wroth, 41, died during a fight with police at the Budget Inn after the officers deployed a Taser unsuccessfully while attempting to take him into custody, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The officers were originally called to the motel at 3:15 p.m. after a security guard noticed Wroth acting strangely.

Police found that Wroth had an outstanding misdemeanor arrest warrant for possession of concentrated cannabis, a DUI and a violation of a court order, said Sgt. Spencer Crum, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office.

Wroth agreed to be handcuffed then pulled away from the officers, Crum said. The ?Taser failed to subdue Wroth during the altercation, but officers restrained the man and immediately began CPR when he became unresponsive, he said.

He died at the motel.

Wroth’s family will hold a private memorial Sunday for the Forestville resident, who worked as a construction worker in Cotati, said Izaak Schweiger, an attorney representing the family.

The family plans to sue the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety over Wroth’s death, Schweiger said.

On May 15, his family sought an emergency injunction to stop the autopsy of his body and requested an independent forensic pathologist be present during the Sonoma County Coroner’s Office’s postmortem examination.

Instead, Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Elliot Duam ordered the procedure be recorded in its entirety to be reviewed by the family’s hired independent pathologist.

The Sheriff’s Office investigation of the fatal incident is ongoing, and there is no timeline for completion, Crum said.

Wroth’s brother, Esa Wroth, was awarded ?$1.25 million in 2016 after he settled an excessive force lawsuit with Sonoma County.

The case stemmed from a 2013 incident where Esa Wroth claimed to have been beaten and shocked with a Taser 23 times while in custody at the Sonoma County Jail, where he was being booked on drunken driving charges.

You can reach Staff Writer Nick Rahaim at 707-521-5203 or nick.rahaim@pressdemocrat.com. ?On Twitter @nrahaim.