No charges filed in Santa Rosa man’s death after police struggle

Criminal charges will not be filed in the death of a Santa Rosa man who died last year following a confrontation with nine Santa Rosa police officers who had responded to reports of gunfire in a residential area.

In a 19-page report signed Aug. 19, Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch concluded “neither lethal force, nor unreasonable force” was used by any of the eight officers or the single sergeant during their attempts to subdue and arrest Jordon Bordoso Pas on Nov. 18, 2021.

Body cam footage from the confrontation, which took place in a Roseland cul-de-sac, was released in December in the wake of reports that the officers deployed stun guns at least three times, including twice at close range, while struggling with Pas.

“Lethal force is that which creates a substantial risk of death or great bodily injury. No conduct on the part of the officers created a substantial risk of death or great bodily injury,” according to the DA’s report. “Instead, the non-lethal uses of force in this case were reasonable responses to the behavior and dynamic threat posed by Mr. Pas. Based on the law and the totality of the circumstances ... officers ... were legally justified in their use of reasonable force during the incident ...

“Accordingly, criminal charges are not warranted,” the report added.

Pas was pronounced dead, soon after the confrontation, at an area hospital. He’d lost consciousness while struggling with police.

In June, a Sonoma County coroner investigation ruled that Pas, 40, died from “cardiac arrest in (a) setting of physical struggle with law enforcement, application of conducted electrical weapon, and acute cocaine intoxication.”

According to the DA’s report, family and friends told investigators Pas had been using drugs shortly before the encounter with police.

The Press Democrat could not immediately reach his relatives for their response to the DA’s decision to not criminally charge any of the nine officers involved in the incident.

Santa Rosa police Sgt. Chris Mahurin also declined to comment on the DA’s decision since his agency is still conducting an internal investigation.

“It’s part of those checks and balances — to make sure everything is in line with (department) policy and within the law,” he said.

The internal investigation should be done in a few weeks, Mahurin said.

Footage from officers’ body cameras showed Pas falling to the ground and landing on the right side of his body and head after being shocked by a stun gun.

An autopsy determined he had suffered an “acute traumatic brain injury” but it was not considered one of the causes of his death, according to the DA’s report.

The series of events began shortly before 1:30 a.m. Nov. 18, 2021, after multiple residents near Inglewood Drive reported gunshots and a man walking through their Roseland neighborhood with a gun. He later moved onto Peach Court, which is parallel to Inglewood.

A homeowner on Peach Court told investigators he heard five or six gunshots and, from his upstairs bedroom window, saw Pas jump on and slide across the hood of a Honda sedan before firing a gun in the air and running across the street, according to the DA’s report.

He said he watched Pas walk down another driveway, fire another round. He appeared to be talking erratically to himself, the homeowner told authorities. Pas was then seen jumping a white picket fence into some grass before he briefly went out of sight.

When the homeowner said Pas came back into view, he no longer saw the gun Pas had originally been carrying.

The homeowner was among nine residents interviewed by investigators following the gunfire.

The nine officers confronted Pas on Peach Court. He was not carrying a gun, but he had a large rock that was later described as a landscape paver.

The officers engaged him in conversation and urged him to surrender, but he swore and made incoherent comments.

An officer deployed a Taser, but its effectiveness was unclear because Pas “only stuttered slightly and fell to one knee,” and it was deployed a second time, according to the report.

No other officer deployed a Taser before officials converged on Pas.

“Mr. Pas, whom the officers noted was a large, strong man, tucked his arms underneath his body and actively resisted being handcuffed,” according to the DA’s report. “The officers tried to pull his arms out from under him, but his seemingly enhanced strength prevented them from doing so.”

As the group of officers struggled with Pas, an officer twice pressed a Taser to Pas’ back and deployed it, while another officer struck Pas’ right-upper back with his fist.

It took three officers to pull out Pas’ right arm and put him in handcuffs, according to the DA’s report.

This is when he began losing consciousness and paramedics were alerted.

Police found a bag of cocaine near Pas’ body. Investigators later found an assault rifle near the white picket fence the homeowner had mentioned.

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office investigated the incident and forwarded the findings to the District Attorney’s Office.

The in-custody death prompted Santa Rosa police officials to place the eight officers and a sergeant on immediate paid leave.

All nine returned to work several months ago, officials.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi