New video shows man tased by private security amid struggle in Sacramento County before death
A newly obtained video shows a man yelling “I’m not going nowhere” before he was tased during a struggle with private security guards Saturday in Arden Arcade.
The man was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
He had allegedly trespassed previously on the property near Ganas Auto on Fulton Avenue and returned again on Saturday morning, said Ana McBride, who works at the car dealership. She said she called guards with Sacramento Protective Services, which provides security for businesses in the area.
“I feel terrible because I made the call, but it shouldn’t have escalated,” McBride said.
Two security guards attempted to move at least one of the man’s hands behind his back as he stood pressed up against a vehicle, according to the video filmed by a witness and provided to The Sacramento Bee. The footage provides the first look at the deadly incident.
Sgt. Amar Gandhi, a Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said the man resisted while he was being handcuffed. Gandhi said Saturday the agency was not investigating the man’s death as a criminal matter.
The video shows the guards brought the man to the ground while ordering him to put his hands behind his back.
One security guard pointed a taser at the man. The other guard pushed the man’s chest to the ground.
“I’m not going nowhere,” the man yelled before he was tased, the video shows.
The security guards continued attempts to detain the man while he was on the ground. He yelled he couldn’t breathe.
Jason Ingman, the founder and CEO of Sacramento Protective Services, wrote in an email to The Bee that the guards “exercised extreme professionalism” and “utilized reasonable and appropriate non-injuring force to overcome the suspect’s resistance.”
“The loss of any life for any reason is tragic and this incident should serve as a cautionary tale regarding the dangers of fentanyl abuse,” Ingman wrote.
The guards responded to a call about a person sleeping inside a vehicle on private property. Three people were inside the vehicle and when the car door opened, a plume of smoke drifted out, Ingman wrote. His statement said a person inside the car later told the guards they were smoking fentanyl, but the Sheriff’s Office has not said if drugs were involved and had not made any arrests as of Monday.
The guards attempted to detain the man for trespassing before he resisted, Ingman wrote. He declined to answer how many times the man was tased during the incident.
Ingman confirmed the man said he had difficulty breathing but added the guards did not apply any force to his neck or torso as they attempted to detain him.
At least one guard appears to place his knee on the man’s back for at least several seconds during the struggle, according to the video.
The guards began chest compressions and gave him two doses of Narcan, Ingman wrote, which is used to reverse overdoses. They also called the Sheriff’s Office and the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire Department while giving him medical aid, he said.
The man was pronounced dead a little under two hours after guards went to the scene.
An investigation by the Sheriff’s Office into his death is ongoing and further updates will not be available until after the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office completes an autopsy, Gandhi said Monday.
The Coroner’s Office will release the man’s identity and determine a cause of death.
Ingman wrote the guards are cooperating with the investigation and that their body-worn camera footage was provided to deputies.
On Monday, McBride was still shaken up.
Tears streamed down her face as she watched the video and recounted what happened. She said she still hears the man calling out for help, and had only reported him because that’s what she was told to do.
“We just wanted him to go on his merry way,” she said.
McBride hopes the incident is investigated further.
“They definitely went way too far,” she said. “He should definitely not have lost his life for sleeping in a car.”
This story was originally published November 12, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
