Recently, a 33-year-old man named Ernie Serrano unfortunately was pinned down and beaten with a baton. This crime is eerily similar to what occurred to slain Minneapolis black man George Floyd:
This Southern California man died last Tuesday after he was in police custody. Arrested for alleged assault with a deadly weapon following an incident that required police assistance at a grocery store in Jurupa Valley. The confrontation ultimately did not end well for Ernie Serrano. It left him battered, bloodied, and unfortunately dead.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department released body camera footage, as well as witness and surveillance video from that day, and it shows Serrano at a Stater Bros. attempting to check out at the register. Eventually, security intervenes due to his denial to exit the premises. Ernie Serrano is then sprayed with pepper spray, tazed, and beaten by baton.
Police released a preliminary autopsy report they say lists his cause of death as acute methamphetamine intoxication. The Sheriff’s Deptartment says this caused a fatal arrhythmia as he struggled with the deputies. According to police, Serrano resisted arrest and the department and the District Attorney’s Office were currently investigating.
Press play to watch Sheriff Chad Bianco’s Statement:
Footage shows Serrano bleeding from his face as deputies attempt to handcuff him while pinning his torso against a countertop. He screams for them to let him go as cops try to calm him down. Many speculate Serrano screamed, “Excessive force” at a point.
Humberto Guizar, the family’s attorney, says the deputies held him down in a compromised position for too long, which he believes is the reason behind Serrano’s death. He’s calling for an independent autopsy to be done and signals he and the family are preparing for a lawsuit.
