BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer
“Unacceptable,” “disgusted and disappointed” and “disturbing” were words residents at tonight’s (Nov. 8) Redwood City Council meeting used to describe a police arrest that was caught on video.
The six residents who spoke during the council meeting, held via Zoom, referred to a video that showed a portion of an arrest of Vincent Cruz Montano, 36, of San Mateo, outside of Pet Food Express at Sequoia Station on Nov. 2.
During the video, officers grab Montano, force him to the ground and one officer uses his baton to his Montano’s legs as they try to get him into handcuffs.
Throughout the video, Montano repeatedly says “ow” and that he is not resisting.
Police released a statement on Thursday explaining what had led up to the scene shown in the video.
Police say that Montano was acting “erratically” on the 1400 block of El Camino on Tuesday around 4 p.m., yelling at children, slamming into an Amazon van and throwing objects at passing cars.
When officers arrived, Montano ran into traffic on El Camino. Police caught up with Montano in the Pet Food Express parking lot, where the video was shot.
During the tussle, an officer was bit twice, once on the arm and once on the finger. No skin was broken, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. During the incident, Montano was Tasered and sustained “minor” injuries, the DA said.
A woman speaking tonight who only identified herself as Izzy said it’s hard to reconcile the police statement with what is shown in the video. She also pointed out that police were not specific in what force they used on Montano.
Resident Maricelena Luna said she had to replay the video because she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Luna, along with most of the others who spoke tonight, called for an independent investigation into what happened.
Michael Solario said the incident shouldn’t only be investigated by Redwood City police.
Resident Clara Jaeckel, who serves on the city’s police advisory committee but was speaking for herself, said tonight she found it “deeply disturbing” to see the amount of force used on a single unarmed person by the city’s police officers.
Jaeckel added that she’s heard claims that Redwood City’s police department is more progressive than others and is trained in de-escalation techniques. But she said that wasn’t seen in the video.
Jaeckel added that police cannot solve all of the city’s underlying issues and that the city ought to invest in basic needs such as housing and care.
Because the comments were provided during the city council’s general public comment period, the council was not allowed to discuss what the residents spoke about.
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Dealing with a maniac is not easy. I’d like to see all the “woke” complainers try.
Sounds like our city should be sending trained mental health experts to be dealing with these calls instead of expensive, violent cops who always seem to make the situation worse.
How many social workers are willing to, or physically capable of, grappling with someone who is violent and perhaps high on drugs? If psychotherapists are able to so deftly bring people back to sanity, why do we still have so many crazy people who have been in and out of the looney bin?
The police were appropriate. The perpetrator brought this on himself: He bit police officers and resisted arrest.
the mental health problem in the US is the main cause of the woe’s of homelessness and crime.
I’d love to see the ‘woke’ bleeding hearts go out and start a citizen campaign to alleviate these crisis’ instead of waiting on the sideline to judge how police go about their job of protecting the innocent.