From staff and wire reports
A Redwood City police officer deployed a Taser multiple times on a domestic violence suspect who died after a struggle with officers, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said Friday (Aug. 17).
Wagstaffe’s office is leading the investigation into the death of Ramsey Saad, 55, who had allegedly assaulted and threatened to kill his 83-year-old mother.
Police were called at 7:20 p.m. Monday (Aug. 13) and found Saad outside the home at 523 Lanyard Drive in Redwood City’s Redwood Shores neighborhood.
Neighbors were trying to restrain him, police said.
The first officer who arrived tried to attend to Saad’s mother, but Saad attacked the officer, according to police. Other officers arrived and tried to stop Saad.
During the struggle, Officer Oscar Poveda deployed a Taser on Saad “two or three times,” Wagstaffe said. Eventually, Saad fell unconscious. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.
Poveda and three other officers were placed on leave after the incident. The other officers are Matthew Cydzik, Brian Simmons and Daniel DiBona.
Officer ran over beating victim
As the Post reported Friday, Poveda was cleared of wrongdoing in 2009 after he accidentally ran over a 34-year-old beating victim while responding to a call in a parking lot at a Denny’s restaurant the year before.
The incident cost the city $1.25 million when it settled a claim over the victim’s disfigured face, permanently closed eye and hearing loss. The claim sought $5 million.
In 2011, Poveda was honored for making 24 DUI arrests the year before, the second most in the department.
In 2016, Poveda was one of the six city employees who took home more than $100,000 in overtime pay. He earned $119,394 in overtime pay in 2016, almost as much as his $130,468 base salary.
Transparent California, a website that posts public employees’ salaries and job titles, lists Simmons as a police officer trainee last year.
Cydzik appears to have joined the force in 2015, and DiBona isn’t listed in any of the rosters uploaded to Transparent California dating up through 2017.
Cydzik won an Outstanding Duty Award in 2016 along with eight other officers and two dispatchers who had handled a domestic dispute at the Deluxe Inn.
Wagstaffe said the investigation is ongoing and it’s not clear what role the Taser played in Saad’s death, if any. He said an autopsy is complete but it will be weeks longer before a coroner’s report is completed specifying his official cause of death.
Did the suspect have a gun or another deadly weapon that justified the use of the Taser?
Looks like they kept zapping him until he was dead. I though these Tasers were supposed to be “less than lethal” alternatives to shooting somebody.
Wish this POS was stripped of his police duties. Ever wonder why cops get no respect? Think about their actions and how they do more harm than good.