Facts

City of Hayward police officers had been alerted about a road altercation that possibly involved a gun. When they arrived at the scene, Eric Rosalia was yelling obscenities about being cut off and cursed at the police. The officers told him to “calm down,” asking repeatedly if Rosalia would like an ambulance called. Rosalia walked into his garage and came out with a knife, at which point, the officers shouted, “put it down, put it down.” Rosalia instead, began waving the knife toward the officers. Some officers, including Officer Naik, drew a gun, while others drew tasers. Naik, standing between five and ten feet from Rosalia, continued to shout at Rosalia to drop the knife. When Rosalia moved forward toward Naik, Naik fired multiple shots. Eric’s family members including, Ann Rosalia, Eric Rosalia Jr., as successors-in-interest to Eric, filed suit against the City and the officers.

PLAINTIFFS’ CONTENTIONS: Plaintiffs contended that the officers’ use of excessive force violated their Fourth Amendment rights. Plaintiff had lowered the blade and Naik’s response to fire multiple shots in response was unreasonable, especially in light of the fact that a better tactical move would have been to use the tasers, especially because Rosalia’s son stood a few feet away from him.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS: Defendants contended that in light of the circumstances, as it occurred and unfolded, their actions were reasonable. They were in official uniform, clearly identified themselves as police, and used de-escalation tactics. Then when plaintiff went into the garage to retrieve the knife, defendants urged him to drop it, providing him ample warning. When plaintiff, holding the multi-inch knife, moved toward Officer Naik, who was just a few feet away, Officer Naik responded as any reasonable officer, would do, stopping an imminent and serious threat to his life.

Result

The court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment, noting that given what was recorded on video, no reasonable jury could conclude that the officers used excessive force.