Death by Cop 2021-2025
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David Pelaez-Chavez
Age : 36
Gender : Male
Race : Latino/a/e
Date : 07/29/2022
Location : Creek 1 mile from 5600 block of Thomas Road
City : Healdsburg
County : Sonoma
State : California
Agency : Sonoma County Sheriff's Office
Officer(s) :Michael Dietrick
Cause of Death : Gunshot
Event : Killed by police for unclear reasons
OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :
On 07/29/2022, deputies with the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office responded to reports of a residential burglary and vehicle theft in the rural Healdsburg area. Investigators alleged that David Pelaez-Chavez broke into a home, stole a vehicle, abandoned it, and continued on foot through vineyards and nearby properties.
More than ten deputies, assisted by a helicopter and K-9 units, searched for Pelaez-Chavez before locating him in a creek approximately one mile from the 5600 block of Thomas Road. According to the Sheriff's Office, Pelaez-Chavez was holding a hammer and a gasoline-powered garden tiller and made throwing motions toward deputies. Deputy Michael Dietrick fired the fatal shots. Body-worn camera footage from multiple deputies was later released, showing the lengthy pursuit and the final confrontation.
Pelaez-Chavez's family disputed the necessity of deadly force, arguing that deputies outnumbered him and questioning why less-lethal tactics were not used. They called for an independent investigation outside Sonoma County and criticized the Sheriff's Office for withholding information in the weeks following the shooting. The case also prompted members of Sonoma County's law enforcement oversight panel to renew calls for independent state investigations of fatal police shootings.
The shooting was Deputy Michael Dietrick's second fatal on-duty shooting. In 2016, while serving as a Clearlake police officer, Dietrick fatally shot Joseph Louis Melvin during a separate encounter.
SOURCE LINKS :
pressdemocrat.com/article/news/family-of-man-killed-by-sonoma-county-sheriffs-deputy-pushes-for-independe/
The Joseph Louis Melvin case:
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/clearlake-man-shot-dead-by-police-officer-idd/
