Sonoma County to pay $1.9 million in Santa Rosa standoff that ended in suicide

Sonoma County has agreed to pay a record-setting $1.9 million to the family of a Santa Rosa man who killed himself in 2014 after sheriff’s deputies pumped tear gas into the attic where he was hiding during an all-night standoff.

The family of Glenn Swindell, a 39-year-old grocery store employee, sued the county and the deputies involved in federal court, alleging the sheriff’s SWAT unit launched an unwarranted, militarized siege on Swindell’s home that lasted nearly 12 hours and forced the man to take his own life.

Sheriff’s officials at the time claimed deputies complied with department policies, but on Monday Sheriff Rob Giordano said they knew right away that procedures were violated by one employee, who no longer works for the department. Giordano said the county is settling the case because “one of our employees didn’t follow proper procedures.”

“One person made some mistakes that impacted our ability to handle this call,” Giordano said.

The sheriff declined to describe the mistakes made at the scene, saying he is barred from discussing them because of California laws preventing public disclosure of police misconduct.

The terms of the settlement were agreed upon May 17 in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, and the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved the settlement during a closed-session discussion July 10.

The family’s attorney, Arnoldo Casillas, said the settlement “was in everybody’s best interest.”

“My clients are certainly happy to put this behind them and move forward with their lives,” said Casillas, who declined to comment further on the case.

The settlement with the Swindell family appears to be the largest payout by Sonoma County in a civil case against law enforcement. The county paid $1.75 million to the family of 16-year-old Jeremiah Chass, who was shot and killed by deputies in 2007. Earlier this year, the county agreed to pay $1.7 million to six former Sonoma County Jail inmates who said they endured physical assaults and verbal abuse by correctional deputies - a case that has led the Sheriff’s Office to retrain its jail staff on use-of-force procedures and purchase body-worn cameras.

Deputies were called to the Swindell home on Manka Circle in Larkfield on May 16, 2014.

Swindell’s wife, Sarah, called 911 asking for assistance getting to her children, ages 3 and 5, who were locked inside the home with their father. The couple had a disagreement while driving home from a work event and Swindell brought the children inside while his wife stayed in the car, according to court filings.

Swindell let the children out soon after deputies arrived and spoke with him through the front door. But he remained inside and locked the door.

Unable to convince Swindell to exit the house, dozens more deputies arrived, as well as the SWAT unit in an armored vehicle. They remained on the Larkfield street overnight.

Sarah Swindell said she urged deputies to deescalate their tactics because her husband hadn’t committed a crime, was not violent and also because he didn’t trust law enforcement.

But deputies didn’t deescalate their approach, and they received a judge’s approval to break into the house to arrest Swindell and confiscate his guns.

Deputies crashed through the garage door with an armored vehicle then punctured a hole in the attic where Swindell hid, and pumped chemical agents into the space, according to court filings.

Swindell shot himself sometime before deputies broke into the attic the next morning. They found him dead on the floor and a handgun nearby.

Swindell’s family, including his wife and mother, Deborah Belka of Bellingham, Washington, filed the federal lawsuit in February 2015. They argued deputies overreacted after reading what they perceived as anti-law enforcement statements on the man’s Facebook page and learning he had two lawfully registered guns.

Casillas, the family’s lawyer, also represents the parents of 13-year-old Andy Lopez, the Santa Rosa teen killed in 2013 by a sheriff’s deputy. The Lopez shooting played a part in Swindell’s mistrust of law enforcement, according to his family.

Belka spoke to Swindell by phone for more than an hour while he was hiding in the attic, trying to convince her son to surrender. Belka, who spoke during a press conference announcing the federal lawsuit, said Swindell told her he didn’t want to surrender because he feared being killed by deputies “just like Andy Lopez.”

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 707-521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.