Stanislaus deputy who fatally shot teen will not be charged, but lawsuit continues
The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office said Friday it will not file charges against a sheriff’s deputy who shot and killed a 16-year-old last May.
Deputy Gerardo Zazueta fatally shot Xander Mann on May 18 during a vehicle pursuit after Mann fled from other deputies during a traffic stop.
Mann, a Riverbank resident, died May 21. Four other teens were in the car with him at the time.
“The actions of the involved sheriff’s deputy do not rise to the level of criminal conduct that would warrant the filing of criminal charges,” the DA’s Office wrote in an 11-page memo sent April 27 to Sheriff Jeff Dirkse.
According to the DA’s findings, Mann endangered the law enforcement officers when he escalated the traffic stop to a felony pursuit. The office found he attempted to use his vehicle as a weapon against law enforcement officers from multiple agencies as they pursued him and he attempted to escape.
Other teens who were in the car told investigators Mann said he was afraid he’d get into trouble or be sent away because of his prior juvenile criminal record and the fact that he was in the state’s care. The teens said they tried to get Mann to stop but he refused and yelled at them.
“The passengers in the car understood the seriousness/danger of the situation and all but Mann raised their hands to surrender,” the memo read.
Teen drove at deputies
Modesto police officers hit Mann’s car using approved pursuit intervention techniques (PIT) in an effort to stop him, but he continued driving — even backward at one point, according to camera footage released by the office. After Zazueta attempted a second PIT maneuver, Mann’s car spun out and deputies were eventually able to close in and triangulate their patrol cars around Mann.
At that time, Mann attempted to accelerate toward deputies and their vehicles. Zazueta then fired either two or three shots.
In a statement, Zazueta said he did not feel there was any room for Mann’s car between the patrol cars and he thought Mann was going to hit him.
Zazueta did not have his body camera turned on at the time of the shooting, which Sheriff Dirkse attributed to the “rapid nature of how this critical incident unfolded” when camera footage from other deputies was released in the days following the shooting.
Additionally, the DA found much of the evidence difficult to assess because the incident happened quickly and involved moving vehicles.
“The importance/relevance of the available physical evidence was further lessened due to the fact that Mann was not stationary when the shooting occurred, and his vehicle traveled some distance forcing the patrol cars to also move,” the office said.
In a statement, Sgt. Darwin Hatfield said Mann’s car came close enough to scuff the bumper of his patrol car. He noted he didn’t feel any impact but hadn’t seen the scuff during a pre-shift inspection. He also believed in the moment he was close enough to be hit even harder than Mann apparently did.
Mann’s autopsy showed he had “metabolites” of cocaine in his system, but “not at levels that would explain his irrational choices,” the DA’s office said.
Mann’s family has filed a civil lawsuit against the county, seeking millions in damages for alleged wrongful death, excessive force, negligence and assault and battery. The most recent memo was filed April 8.
The lawsuit says Mann was trying to surrender when Zazueta shot him.
The lawsuit also accuses Dirkse of immediately defending Zazueta and trying “to influence the public’s perception of the shooting in favor of law enforcement by releasing incomplete and misleading circumstances of the shooting, and downplaying or ignoring the several violations of policy committed by (Zazueta) during the course of the incident.”
The lawsuit alleges Zazueta’s violations include not turning his body camera on, shooting at a moving vehicle and failing to follow the Sheriff’s Department’s vehicle pursuit policy. The lawsuit claims this incident is part of a pattern of a dozen incidents of excessive force by deputies in recent years.
Use of force called ‘malicious’
Mark Merin, the Sacramento-based attorney representing Mann’s family in the lawsuit, said in an interview with The Modesto Bee on Friday afternoon that he wasn’t surprised about the district attorney’s decision. He noted that the county has not charged any deputy in a similar case in known memory.
Deputy Justin Wall, who was charged with voluntary manslaughter in San Joaquin County after shooting a Modesto woman in 2017 in a chase that moved over county lines, was acquitted in December.
Merin said this case should have resulted in charges because of what he said was “one of the most malicious, unjustifiable uses of force” he’s seen.
He also said Mann’s car should not have been categorized as a weapon because he was driving by — not at — Zazueta at the time of the shooting. He noted that the bullets went through the side of the car and not the front, although the DA’s office attributed that to Zazueta’s perception of the car’s location.
Merin believes the lack of camera footage contributes to the confusion about what Zazueta might have seen that night.
“We’re very disturbed that the officer did not have his body-worn camera operating,” Merin said. “That would have answered this question clearly.”
This story was originally published May 3, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
