The Watsonville Police Department faces criticism after a video was posted to social media showing one of its officers punching a man multiple times during an arrest on Tuesday night.
This week, a video posted to multiple social media platforms shows two officers responding to a domestic disturbance call in a Watsonville neighborhood. The officers are standing behind 39-year-old Antonio Zepeda as he’s on his knees with his hands behind his back.
Then, one of the officers tries to push Zepeda down on his stomach with his knee. The second officer then jumps in to help the first officer wrestle Zepeda down and a third officer attempts to grab Zepeda’s legs. As the first officer loses control of Zepeda, the second officer begins punching him. The officer throws at least three punches before the video cuts out.
A second video shows the officers continuing to wrestle with Zepeda, who is now on his back. One officer uses a TASER on Zepeda as the other two attempt to constrain him before that video ends.
A person can be heard saying, “don’t push him,” as the first officer tries to push Zepeda down. Then, multiple people can be heard yelling at the officers as the second officer starts punching Zepeda.
In a statement issued Wednesday, WPD said it was aware of the video and that the incident was under review.
The statement also stated that the video only showed “a small glimpse of the officers’ interaction with the suspect.”
“Any time there are serious concerns over our officers’ actions, we investigate and share as much information with you as possible,” the statement read.
According to WPD, officers responded to a domestic disturbance call around 6:30pm on the 400 block of Chappel Road. The caller said Zepeda punched his brother in the head and then pushed his mother, WPD said. Zepeda then left the home before officers arrived, but returned armed with a knife and tried to reenter the house less than an hour later.
He was arrested for an outstanding misdemeanor warrant and resisting arrest, according to police logs. He was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail on $2,500 bail.
When officers arrested him in the video, he did not appear to have a weapon.
WPD’s social media posts received more than 120 comments as of Thursday afternoon. Some thanked the department for its transparency, and others asked for the department to release body cam footage from the arrest.
WPD spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said she could not say on Thursday whether the department would release the body cam footage.
Watsonville PD saw my husband driving and knew his driver’s license was suspended so they followed him home. He was in the attic crawl space face down, telling them he surrendered and they lifted the k9 up where he was. The dog went and sat on top of my husband’s back. They then commanded it in another language to attack him. It bit him in the back of the head & arms, causing permanent nerve damage & a tremendous loss of blood which he was rushed to Natividad Medical Center for.
…..For driving on a suspended licence….?