.UPDATED: San Rafael police officer involved in violent beating out of a job

Editor’s Note: This article was updated with additional information on Tuesday, June 13, at 1:30pm.

It’s not much of a surprise that one of the two officers involved in the unprovoked bloody beating of a local gardener no longer works for the San Rafael Police Department.

After all, Daisy Mazariegos was still on her probationary period as a new employee when the violent incident, captured on the officers’ body-worn cameras, occurred last July.

What’s remarkable is that Mazariegos and the SRPD parted ways on May 15, about two weeks after the conclusion of an independent investigation into the use of force incident. The city hasn’t yet released the investigative report and never made a public announcement about the change in Mazariegos’ employment status. It remains to be seen whether the two are related, and we’ll only know if the city releases the report. 

Still, Mazariegos’ departure is news. Big news, some might say. The community has been staging protests and clamoring for the dismissal of both officers since September, when videos of the beatdown were first released to the media.

Under California law, a police officer on their probationary period may be released with or without cause. But to be clear, I have no idea whether Mazariegos was fired or quit. In fact, I only found out that she was gone because a source tipped me off last month, and I then confirmed it with the police department.

Neither Lt. Scott Eberle, who serves as the SRPD’s public information officer, nor Chief David Spiller, will tell me why Mazariegos is gone.

“Details regarding why any employee separates from the city are typically confidential personnel matters not subject to public disclosure,” Eberle said.

The public, although kept in the dark regarding the reason for Mazariegos’ exit, footed the bill while the then-officer enjoyed almost nine months of paid administrative leave during the investigation into the assault incident. Mazariegos’ compensation cost taxpayers a pretty penny. In 2021, she earned more than $96,000 in pay and benefits, according to Transparent California.

Brandon Nail, the officer shown on video punching the gardener in the face, has been with the SRPD for almost four years and continues on paid administrative leave. Though Nail is not currently protecting or serving San Rafael residents, he’s still receiving compensation, which, in 2021, totaled almost $192,000.

Earlier this week, we reported that the public may finally get to see the independent investigative report into the officers’ use of force against Julio Jimenez Lopez, who the Pacific Sun previously referred to as “Mateo” because he had feared for his safety. However, Rob Epstein, San Rafael’s city attorney, has once again reversed his position and will not voluntarily release the report.

Epstein has vacillated on the issue since the end of April, when the independent investigator hired by San Rafael provided the report to the city. Initially, Epstein refused to release the report to the public, citing the officers’ legal rights to confidentiality.

On May 19, Epstein agreed to release the report after Theo Emison, a lawyer representing Jimenez Lopez in a claim against the city, argued that the report is subject to release under the California Public Records Act. While legislation exists to protect the confidentiality of peace officers’ personnel records and reports, there are exceptions. One which seems on point in this case is when an officer’s use of force has resulted in death or great bodily injury.

Jimenez Lopez’ claim against the city states that he “sustained significant, life-altering injuries including but not limited to a fractured nose, loss of consciousness, traumatic brain injury, neurological and orthopedic injuries…”

But Epstein continued to delay providing the report, asserting that the city needed more time to make redactions. Then, on June 12, Epstein sent an astounding letter to Emison, revealing that the officers are threatening to sue the city if the report is released. Ultimately, Epstein again refused to distribute the report and invited Emison to bring legal action against the city to attempt to obtain it.

“…the City has concluded that it must not ring a bell that it cannot later un-ring if the Court later determines that the records are exempt from disclosure,” Epstein wrote.

On June 13, I spoke with Emison to find out his next move in this game of chicken that Epstein seems hellbent on playing. Emison will not back down in his pursuit of the report, believing that the public interest trumps the privacy rights of officers who landed a man in the hospital for enjoying a beer on a city sidewalk.

“After receipt of Epstein’s letter on the 12^th, the day he previously promised to disclose the records, we began working on a writ of mandate forcing the city to disclose the investigative report and materials,” Emison said.

The report will likely elaborate on the the specifics already known to the public based on the videos of the incident. Mazariegos confronted three men who had gathered to drink after work on a street in the Canal. Nail arrived within minutes. During questioning by Mazariegos, Jimenez Lopez stood up to retrieve his identification. The situation devolved rapidly from there.

A frame-by-frame review of Mazariegos’ and Nail’s body cam videos shows a series of aggressive maneuvers by both officers left Jimenez Lopez lying face down on the pavement in a pool of his own blood with his hands cuffed behind his back. Jimenez Lopez was arrested and placed in the back of a police car. Despite his bloodied face, he remained in the car for almost an hour before being transported to the hospital.

A police report made allegations that were contradicted by the videos. Based on the report, the Marin County District Attorney’s Office filed felony and misdemeanor charges against Jimenez Lopez; however, those charges were later dropped after the videos were reviewed.

Last week, partly in response to the incident and the community’s demand for transparency and accountability, Spiller, the police chief, unveiled a plan for the Police Advisory and Accountability Committee (PAAC). The San Rafael City Council voted 5-0 to establish the committee, despite opposition from the public.

The Marin Justice League, a grassroots organization formed in reaction to the Jimenez Lopez incident, had previously provided the city council with The People’s Plan as an alternative to the PAAC. There are significant differences between the two plans.

The seven San Rafael residents appointed to serve on the PAAC will advise on police policy and have no investigative authority. Conversely, the People’s Plan calls for an oversight commission of residents with the power to investigate complaints of police misconduct and an Independent Police Monitor that can audit the police department.

I spoke with Spiller about why the PAAC lacks investigative powers. It’s by design, mostly driven by the legal rights of peace officers, he said. Logistically, it’s difficult to structure a citizen commission with the authority to go poking into confidential records and personnel files. In fact, Spiller discussed the PAAC setup with the president of the local union, the San Rafael Police Association.

“We had conferred about the reality of operating the PD with a group of community members to provide recommendations and input to the leadership,” Spiller said.

Brenda Rivas-Camarena, of the Marin Justice League, disagrees with the city’s approach. She believes that the PAAC leaves out the accountability component, no matter the name.

“Yet again, the City of San Rafael and its police department continue to play a deceptive game of double-speak by unanimously voting to approve the police chief’s weak and useless plan called the Police Advisory and Accountability Committee,” Rivas-Camarena said in an email. “There’s nothing in the plan that remotely holds the department and its present and future rogue officers accountable for any alleged or actual wrongdoings.”

For now, the city is moving forward with the PAAC. But one has to wonder whether that might change after the independent investigative report is released to the public and we see what action, if any, is taken against Brandon Nail.

Tara Evans, a lifelong San Rafael resident and member of the Marin Justice League, told me in an interview that the group will continue fighting for true police accountability in San Rafael and throughout the county.

“Dynamics are changing,” Evans said. “Every person deserves to be policed in a way that is fair, equitable and aligned with the law. Harm to one member harms us all. I think it’s really in that ideology that the issue of police accountability is not going to go away.”