California man dies after being arrested by Riverside County deputies
A California man died last week after he was arrested at a Jurupa Valley store, where the local sheriff’s department says he tried to grab a security guard’s gun during an altercation.
According to a statement by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, deputies responded Tuesday evening to an alleged assault with a deadly weapon in the store on Mission Boulevard and found the suspect, 33-year-old Ernie Serrano, fighting with a security guard.
The statement says Serrano tried to take the guard’s firearm at one point during the incident. Deputies tried to detain Serrano, who “continued fighting with the deputies and did not comply with their commands. At that time, a use of force occurred,” the statement says.
The statement does not say what kind of force was used. Bystander video of the incident shows a deputy striking Serrano with a baton at least six times before another deputy tackles him to the ground. The brief video obtained by CNN does not show how the incident started or what prompted it.
After deputies took Serrano into custody they “noticed that he appeared to have stopped breathing,” the statement said.
Medical personnel treated Serrano at the scene, the sheriff’s statement says, and another video shows someone performing chest compressions on Serrano inside the store. Medical personnel found a pulse before taking him to a local hospital, where his condition worsened and he ultimately died, the statement says.
CNN has tried unsuccessfully to reach Serrano’s family for comment, but CNN affiliate KABC reported that they dispute the allegation that Serrano tried to take the security guard’s weapon and are heartbroken by his death.
In an interview with The Press-Enterprise, Serrano’s aunt, Michelle Castillo, said the family planned to hold a vigil Sunday afternoon.
“I want people to know that Ernie was a human being — a living, breathing human being with a heart and breath,” Castillo told the newspaper, which reported that she blamed the deputies for her nephew’s death.
The incident is under investigation by the sheriff’s department force investigations detail, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office and the sheriff’s department’s Central Homicide Unit.
The officers involved in the incident have not been identified. CNN has reached out to the Riverside Sheriff’s Association to comment on their behalf.
CNN has also reached out to the store where the incident occurred, but has not heard back.
