The Contra Costa County District Attorney's office will not charge two sheriff's deputies who arrested an Oakley man in 2018 who later died in their custody.
Contra Costa County Sheriff's Deputies Erik Vawter and Brian McDevitt won’t face charges after an investigation determined there wasn’t enough evidence for criminal prosecution. The coroner's office ruled Michael Hernandez, 34, died of a drug overdose.
Early on the morning of Oct. 30, 2018, neighbors in Bethel Island heard a commotion and saw Hernandez trying to choke his partner and infant daughter, according to the district attorney's investigation.
District attorney’s office spokesperson Scott Alonso told reporters on Thursday the partner told deputies she and Hernandez had been using cocaine.
"The neighbors were frightened," Alonso said. "They woke up. They subdued him and, ultimately, he did pass away."
Hernandez went into shock shortly after he was subdued by neighbors, Alonso said. He died a few hours later in police custody.
Since Hernandez was subdued by civilians and the coroner attributed his death to cocaine toxicity, defense attorney Steven Clark wasn’t surprised the deputies faced no charges.
"I think it's important these police-custody deaths are very facts-specific, and that the district attorney's office did a thorough investigation to assess whether the police contact was reasonable and whether it amounted to a criminal act," Clark told KCBS Radio. "And in this case, they said both it was reasonable and did not amount to a crime."
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