New excessive force allegations after deputy shoved woman at Sacramento jail
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- A citizen complaint alleges excessive force against deputies and guards for failing to intervene.
- Deputy Matthew Gurich faces a felony charge for shoving a 71-year-old woman.
- The updated complaint includes a detailed account of what happened at the jail.
An updated citizen complaint alleges excessive force against three Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies and two security guards for doing nothing to stop a deputy who shoved a 71-year-old woman to the ground and seriously injuring her.
The woman, Ourania Thimmhardy, spent months in the hospital after she was pushed out the front door of the Sacramento County Main Jail. Mark Merin, her attorney, has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office in federal court.
Merin sent the updated citizen complaint on Sept. 10 to the sheriff’s Internal Affairs Bureau, the county’s Office of Inspector General and the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. The complaint, which provides a detailed account of the incident based on images from the deputies’ body cameras and jail security cameras, asks for a full investigation into what happened to Thimmhardy that night at the jail.
Matthew Gurich, the deputy seen on video shoving the woman outside the jail in downtown Sacramento, was fired from the Sheriff’s Office in April.
About a month later, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office filed a felony charge of unlawful assault by a public officer against Gurich for the October 2024 incident. Gurich’s criminal case is still pending, and he is scheduled to return for a settlement conference on Oct. 1 in Sacramento Superior Court.
Thimmhardy’s updated complaint alleges deputies Scott Walker, Katherine Zumwalt and Zachary Frizzell did nothing to intervene, except to laugh or grin at times as they watched Gurich use excessive force against the woman who was being processed for release from the jail. The complaint also alleges that Jeffrey Soriano and Jason Pike, security guards working at the jail that night, failed to stop Gurich.
The woman’s attorney seeks accountability and fixes within the Sheriff’s Office and its handling of the jail. Merin has said state officials should take control of the jail and address these issues, which includes more training for deputies who work with homeless people and those with mental health issues.
“Deputy Gurich’s shove caused Ms. Thimmhardy to fly through the air before landing heavily on the ground,” Merin wrote in the complaint. “Deputy Walker said, ‘Oof,’ after watching Ms. Thimmhardy strike the ground. Ms. Thimmhardy immediately began groaning and moaning in pain after Deputy Gurich shoved her to the ground.”
Sgt. Amar Gandhi, a sheriff’s spokesperson, declined to respond to the new allegations made in Thimmhardy’s citizen complaint.
“We don’t comment on pending litigation,” Gandhi said in an email.
Mental health history
Thimmhardy was arrested Oct. 5, 2024, after she experienced a mental health crisis and refused to leave from a Starbucks store. She believed she was in a grocery store and didn’t understand why they wanted her to leave.
“People — customers don’t trespass,” Thimmhardy tried to explain to the deputies at the jail two days later.
Thimmhardy has suffered from several diagnosed disabilities, including schizoaffective, bipolar, paranoia and delusion disorders, Merin said. She has been hospitalized and received treatment for her disabilities on several occasions, including involuntary psychiatric commitment to mental health facilities and was prescribed medications for her disabilities.
Merin said his client should’ve “been placed on a mental health hold and transported to a mental health facility” where she could receive treatment. Instead, she was booked at the jail as a pretrial detainee.
Thimmhardy remained in custody for two days in jail. Merin said his client required mental health treatment while in custody but received none. About 11 p.m. Oct. 7, 2024, the deputies at the downtown jail, including Gurich, were processing Thimmhardy’s release.
Thimmhardy appeared confused during the process and refused to sign forms as Gurich’s frustration with her grew, according to the complaint. The woman continued trying to explain how an unknown person wants her out of her house, stole her computers and committed identity theft.
Merin wrote in the complaint that Gurich grabbed a writing instrument attached to an electronic signature machine, pulling the writing instrument out of Thimmhardy’s right hand and yanking the electronic signature machine off the desk.
Woman’s arms pulled behind her back
About 11:15 p.m., Gurich grabbed a hold of Thimmhardy’s left arm, spun her around and began pushing her. Merin said his client stumbled forward as she turned back and told the deputy, “Don’t push me.”
Gurich grabbed a hold of Thimmhardy’s left wrist with his left hand and twisted her wrist behind her back before grabbing the woman’s shirt with his right hand and continued pushing her with her wrist in a control hold, according to the complaint.
Thimmhardy asked, “What are you doing? What are you doing?”
Walker then grabbed a hold of Thimmhardy’s right arm and pulled it behind her back as Gurich held her left arm twisted behind her back, according to the complaint. Merin wrote that the two security guards, held open the jail’s front doors, as Gurich “shoved” Thimmhardy “with great force through the air and onto the ground outside the jail.”
Merin said Thimmhardy suffered a fracture on her right femur and is no longer able to climb stairs.
“Her injuries are expected to require ongoing and continuous medical care in the future,” Merin wrote in the complaint. “Ms. Thimmhardy’s mental health has continued to deteriorate because of the assault and the injuries she sustained. She is expected to require the assistance of care-workers for the remainder of her life.”
