SAN FRANCISCO — A newly-filed complaint by the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office alleges that multiple San Francisco police officers engaged in racial profiling, unlawful detention, excessive force and an illegal home entry during a chaotic late-night encounter that turned a family gathering in Hunters Point into what attorneys described as a scene of confusion and violence.
The complaint, submitted March 18 to the Department of Police Accountability, calls for a “complete and thorough investigation” into the actions of Officers Sammie Byrd and Lee Johnson, as well as other responding officers, during an Aug. 30, 2025 incident that began with a routine call and escalated within minutes.
According to the complaint, the incident began just before midnight when officers responded to a report of a dispute near Ingalls Street and La Salle Avenue after a car ran out of gas. A woman told police that her boyfriend had fled following an argument and described him as “Black, 5’5” tall, with curly hair, and wearing a black spider hoodie with red rhinestones, black sweats, and crocs.”
Within minutes, officers encountered a 22-year-old Black man walking nearby.
The complaint states that he differed markedly from the description: he was approximately 5’2” and wore a brown hoodie with white lettering and white sweatpants. Despite those differences, officers pursued him as he moved toward a nearby residence on Quesada Avenue.
“These SFPD officers compounded their profound errors with violence,” said Brian Cox, head of the Public Defender’s Office Integrity Unit. “They pursued the 22-year-old to his friend’s house—even though, aside from being Black, he had no resemblance to a suspect they were looking for.”
The man ran to the home of his friend, Carlos Espana-Quintanilla, where a family gathering was underway.
According to the complaint, Officer Johnson exited his patrol car, entered the gated property and grabbed the man near the front door as he repeatedly told officers, “I didn’t do anything.”
Inside and just beyond the doorway, family members reacted with alarm.
Several demanded to know why police were detaining someone who had been inside the home moments earlier. Espana-Quintanilla stepped forward, holding onto his friend’s shirt and asking officers to explain themselves.
The PD’s office alleges that Officer Byrd responded by escalating the situation. He repeatedly shoved Espana-Quintanilla and, at times, placed both hands around his neck, pushing him backward with force.
“What did he do? What did he do?” Espana-Quintanilla asked, according to body-worn camera footage cited in the complaint.
His stepmother also pressed officers for answers, asking, “Why are you putting your hands on him?”
The 22-year-old, meanwhile, continued to plead with officers, repeating, “I didn’t do anything,” for nearly 40 seconds as the confrontation intensified.
Officers then allegedly pinned the man against the side of the house. He raised his hands and, the filing asserts, offered no resistance.
Despite this, the complaint continues, Officer Byrd allegedly grabbed him and slammed him face-first into the concrete while holding one of his arms, preventing him from bracing for the fall.
The man sustained injuries to his mouth and nose that required medical treatment. The complaint states that he cried out in pain as officers handcuffed him and dragged him to a patrol vehicle.
What followed, the filing contends, further escalated the encounter.
After the 22-year-old was secured, Officer Byrd returned to the residence and pursued Espana-Quintanilla, who had retreated inside.
The complaint alleges that Byrd forced his way through the property’s gate and into the home without a warrant, chased Espana-Quintanilla into a bedroom and punched him multiple times while restraining him on a bed.
“Mom, they’re punching me! Mom, they’re punching me! Mom!” Espana-Quintanilla cried out, according to the complaint.
His mother responded, “I know!”
Multiple officers then entered the room and helped restrain Espana-Quintanilla, who was handcuffed and taken into custody.
The violence escalated beyond the two men at the center of the incident.
Espana-Quintanilla’s sister, who is wheelchair-bound, began yelling at officers to release her brother as she watched the confrontation unfold.
An officer pointed pepper spray directly at her face from close range, the PD’s office charges.
After she made contact with an officer, who stumbled, another officer deployed pepper spray at point-blank range, spraying her in the face while she remained seated in her wheelchair.
The spray “dripped down Angelica’s face and arms” as she continued to yell at officers to leave the home.
Both Espana-Quintanilla and the 22-year-old were taken to a hospital to treat injuries sustained during the encounter.
Prosecutors later charged Espana-Quintanilla with felony resisting arrest and battery on an officer. Those charges were dismissed at a preliminary hearing after a court found insufficient cause to proceed.
The 22-year-old was charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest, but that case was also later dismissed.
The Public Defender’s Officer argues that officers lacked reasonable suspicion from the outset.
They argue in the complaint that the only similarity between the suspect described in the original call and the man officers pursued was race, while clothing, height and other identifying details did not match.
“The only remaining salient characteristic that did ‘match’ was race,” the complaint states.
It further alleges that officers ignored multiple opportunities to reassess the situation, instead “act[ing] mechanically” and continuing to pursue and detain someone “wholly unconnected to the incident.”
The office also contends that officers violated San Francisco Police Department use-of-force policies by employing severe physical force against a person who, according to the complaint, was compliant, had raised his hands and was surrounded by multiple officers.
The force used by police is “egregious, excessive, and particularly violent,” the Public Defender’s office charges
In addition, the complaint alleges that officers unlawfully entered a private residence without a warrant and that no exigent circumstances justified the entry. Under established legal standards, the filing notes, any force used during an unlawful arrest is considered excessive.
The complaint also accuses officers of failing to deescalate the situation at multiple points.
According to the filing, officers never explained why they were present, despite repeated questions from family members, and had “plenty of time” to do so. Instead, the situation escalated at each stage, from the initial stop to the physical confrontations inside the home.
The complaint further alleges that Officer Johnson violated department policy by failing to activate his body-worn camera during the initial pursuit and detention, despite having “ample opportunity” to do so.
The Public Defender’s Office argues that the absence of footage undermines transparency and accountability, particularly because Johnson was the officer who first identified the 22-year-old as a potential suspect.
“The detention, wrongful arrest, and unnecessary violence inflicted on these two men and their family members were illegal and outrageous,” said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju. “This incident reeks of racism, and the public deserves a thorough investigation of these officers’ actions.”
The Department of Police Accountability is expected to investigate the complaint. The San Francisco Police Commission will determine whether disciplinary action is warranted based on the findings.
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