His death changed California law. Now, lawsuit settled over use of force at Golden 1 Center

A lawsuit against the city of Sacramento and a firm that employed a security guard who allegedly kept his knee on a man’s neck for four minutes inside the Golden 1 Center arena before he died has settled, according to a lawyer for the family.

The suit, filed on behalf of the family of warehouse worker Mario Matthews, resulted in a new state law requiring better training for security guards in the use of force and changes in city policy on restraints, was settled for a $1.15 million payment from the city and an undisclosed amount from Universal Protection Service, attorney Stewart Katz said.

“It’s not often you can claim a good policy result, monetary settlement and legislation from a case,” said Katz, who handled the case along with Woodland Hills attorney Dale Galipo. “It’s a trifecta.”

Matthews’ father, Mark Matthews, died while the suit was pending, and his mother, Elizabeth Avila, said her son’s death was a permanent loss for her.

“This entire event has changed my world forever,” Avila said in a statement. “My son, Mario Marcus Matthews, was my only child.

“He had an amazing spirit and a kind soul. Generous, intelligent and strong willed, which is how I and his loved ones will remember him. He did nothing to deserve the neglect he suffered that night.”

Avila added that she hopes the “historic changes” in use of force policies stemming from her son’s death “help prevent this type of neglect in the future.”

Guard put knee on Matthews’ neck, suit said

The security firm, which does business in Sacramento as Allied Universal Security Service, did not respond to a request for comment. In an email statement after the suit was filed in 2020, the firm said its guards “responded to a trespasser acting erratically at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.”

“The individual refused to comply with instructions to leave the facility and appeared to threaten the security professionals,” the statement said. “They attempted to detain him pending the arrival of the police.

“He continued to actively resist efforts to restrain him until he was taken into custody by Sacramento Police.”

The wrongful death lawsuit said three security guards and three police officers “unreasonably restrained” Matthews after he was found inside the arena at 3:30 a.m. on July 2, 2019.

“The 125-pound Mario was being detained for potentially trespassing after entering the city-owned Golden 1 Center through a propped-open door less than five minutes prior,” the lawsuit said. “Mario was slammed face-down to the concrete floor, handcuffed with his hands behind his back and then with maximum restraints applied to him.

“Mario was restrained face-down for 20 minutes with as many as four people on top of him. For four of those minutes, a security guard had a knee on Mario’s neck. Mario displayed heavily labored breathing for most of this time before becoming non-responsive. All medical efforts proved futile.”

Matthews entered arena through open door

Matthews, 39, apparently had attended a concert at the arena earlier that night, and made his way back into the Golden 1 Center through a door that had been propped open by a cleaning crew, the lawsuit says.

He ended up on the basketball court, briefly laying down on it before running around behaving as if he were dribbling and shooting a ball, the suit says.

The suit says two security guards chased after him, then grabbed him by the wrists, slammed his face into a wall and tackled him face down to the concrete floor, where he was handcuffed.

One guard, Drake Quitugua, who was the night supervisor and had less than four months experience as a security guard, “later acknowledged that he took Mario ‘down pretty hard’” and then “used his right knee to apply pressure to the side of Mario’s neck for approximately four and (a) half minutes,” the lawsuit says.

This story was originally published November 2, 2022 at 5:00 AM.