Modesto police release bodycam video to answer claim of excessive force in arrest
The Modesto Police Department released body-camera video of a Feb. 10 arrest after cell phone video of an officer punching the suspect circulated on social media and promoted claims of excessive force.
Both videos show the arrest of Alonso Nunez-Villalobos, 40, on suspicion of violating a restraining order issued in Merced County in July to protect his ex-partner. The arrest happened at Nunez-Villalobos’ residence in the 2100 block of West Hatch Road.
A news release Wednesday said the incident is under review to determine if the officers acted in accordance with department policy and the law, which is standard in all use of force incidents.
Turlock Black Lives Matter has rallied behind Nunez-Villalobos and set up a gofundme page for him to help with his medical, legal and other costs.
A post on the page says, “Alonso suffered from a black eye, broken nose, and is now missing teeth. In addition to that, his family was not told he was in the hospital for 2 days. You can obviously see the language barrier between Alonso and the officers. This was 100% not necessary and these cops are weak for assaulting Alonso.”
Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Sharon Bear confirmed Nunez-Villalobos was released from the hospital on Feb. 12 and booked into jail on suspicion of violating a restraining order and resisting arrest. He posted bond on a $25,000 bail the following day.
The MPD video shows two officers struggling to restrain Nunez-Villalobos on the ground outside the home. He speaks in Spanish during part of the encounter but spoke to the officers in English when first contacted, and asks “what happened?” in English numerous times.
Cameras worn by both officers show Nunez-Villalobos being struck with a Taser and placed in restraints. At one point, an officer appears to strike the man in the face several times with his right hand.
Interim Police Chief Brandon Gillespie mentioned this detail in the news release.
Closed fist strikes
“Regardless of whether this incident is determined to be within existing law and policy, closed fist strikes to a person’s head are often not effective, can injure the officer as well, and just plain look bad,” he said. “Our department will be reviewing our current use of force policy and training to evaluate other options and limit these types of strikes to incidents where no other force option is readily available.”
The bodycam video was made public after the department became “aware of a cell phone video circulating on social media which captured part of this arrest,” the release said.
Turlock BLM co-founder Jaimee Ellison said the video is more evidence of excessive force used by Modesto Police.
The group reached out to Nunez-Villalobos’ family when the video was first posted on YouTube. They have also supported the family of Trevor Seever, who was fatally shot by officer Joseph Lamantia in December, and has been in contact with two other families of people fatally shot by Lamantia.
“We have lost trust with the police departments, especially the Modesto police department ... they can’t handle a simple restraining order violation without inflicting violence,” Ellison said. “I don’t see why you would need to punch someone who was clearly confused and not really aware of what’s going on.”
She said Turlock BLM, along with other grassroots organizations in the BIPOC (black, Indigenous and people of color) community, are calling for better training in deescalation and take down and hold techniques for people who are resisting.
“It seems like MPD doesn’t have the right deescalation tactics to be involved in these distress and mental health calls,” Ellison said. “I think there needs to be a huge overhaul in training and/or of the people in charge.”
Restraining order violated
Nunez-Villalobos has a five-year restraining order against him by his ex-partner.
On the day of his arrest, Nunez-Villalobos went the the victim’s workplace, then followed the vehicle she left in with her current boyfriend, according to Modesto Police.
Nunez-Villalobos and the victim have four children from a relationship that ended in June 2020.
The victim described possessive and jealous behavior by Nunez-Villalobos in a request for the restraining order filed in Merced County.
She said he would call her or make her call him every time she arrived at or left from work, often on FaceTime so she could prove her whereabouts and that she wasn’t with anyone else.
He accused her of cheating and verbally abused her, the document said.
“The defendant tracks my time away from him and he constantly calls me to ask who I was with,” the victim wrote in the document.
She said during an argument on July 7 Nunez-Villalobos “put his arm around my neck. His grip was strong and it was very scary for me. Our daughter had witnessed it and asked him to get off of me.”
The document says he was arrested but a search of records in Merced Superior Court indicates he wasn’t charged.
This story was originally published February 18, 2021 at 1:21 PM.
