SAN FRANCISCO — Two San Francisco police officers used unnecessary force and violated multiple department policies when they wrongfully arrested Matthew Ludwig after entering the wrong license plate number into their computer, according to findings by the San Francisco Department of Police Accountability. The error led officers to believe Ludwig was driving a stolen car before they smashed his window, dragged him from the vehicle, forced him to the pavement and pepper-sprayed him on July 4, 2024.
The DPA sustained five allegations stemming from the encounter, including excessive force, improper use of pepper spray, issuing a citation without cause, conducting a traffic stop without justification and failing to properly supervise a use-of-force evaluation.
A formal complaint filed by the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office identifies the officers as Officer Jonathan Zepeda and Officer Vinesh Govindbhai. The Public Defender’s Integrity Unit filed the DPA complaint on Ludwig’s behalf May 28, 2025, and the DPA completed its investigation Feb. 19, 2026.
The DPA investigates complaints against officers and reports to the San Francisco Police Commission. It determines whether officers violated department policies, and once the DPA sustains a misconduct allegation, SFPD or the Police Commission may impose discipline, depending on the severity of the violation.
At approximately 11:20 p.m. July 4, 2024, the officers were driving near Larkin and Grove streets when Govindbhai spotted Ludwig driving a Honda Accord, according to the Public Defender’s complaint.
Zepeda checked the Honda’s license plate but entered the wrong number into the system. The erroneous search returned a license plate belonging to a Toyota rather than the Honda Ludwig was driving.
Believing Ludwig might be driving a stolen vehicle, the officers turned around and began following him, purportedly to confirm the license plate. Although they had time to do so, neither officer reentered the license plate number into the system before confronting Ludwig.
When Ludwig stopped at a red light on O’Farrell Street behind several vehicles, the officers stopped directly behind him. The Public Defender’s complaint states Ludwig’s vehicle was effectively blocked by cars in front of him and the officers’ vehicle behind him.
Instead of activating their lights to initiate a traffic stop, ordering Ludwig to pull over or checking whether his car door was unlocked, the officers “jumped out of their car behind Ludwig at a red light and smashed his window before assaulting and arresting him,” according to the Public Defender’s Office.
The DPA ultimately found the officers had no reasonable suspicion to stop Ludwig because their suspicion that he was driving a stolen vehicle resulted from their own license plate error.
“The driver was not operating a stolen vehicle, and the officers therefore had no reasonable suspicion to stop him,” the DPA report states.
The DPA’s complaint summary report states that the officer “ran up to the car, smashed the driver’s side window, and pulled the driver to the pavement.”
The DPA found the officer made no effort to initiate a traffic stop before smashing the window and did not use lights, a siren or any other signal directing Ludwig to pull over.
The report states that, absent exigent circumstances, force involving destruction of property and taking a person to the ground may be used only against suspects actively resisting lawful orders.
“The driver had been given no orders and was not resisting,” the DPA found. “The officer’s use of force was therefore unreasonable and excessive.”
According to the Public Defender’s complaint, Govindbhai struck Ludwig’s window four times with his baton, shattered it, opened the already unlocked door and pulled Ludwig from the vehicle by the hood of his sweatshirt.
Ludwig’s left arm was pinned beneath him after he was pulled to the pavement, according to the Public Defender’s Office. Ludwig moved his right arm slightly to brace himself against the pavement.
One officer threatened to pepper-spray Ludwig if he did not bend his right arm behind his back, while Zepeda briefly placed his right knee on Ludwig’s head, according to the Public Defender’s complaint.
The DPA also found that Govindbhai improperly pepper-sprayed Ludwig from inches away as officers attempted to handcuff him.
Department records showed Ludwig had one arm pinned beneath his body as officers struggled to handcuff him. After Zepeda gained control of Ludwig’s free wrist and his legs were pinned to the ground, Govindbhai sprayed pepper spray directly into Ludwig’s face from inches away.
The DPA report states that “the minimum distance for spraying pepper spray at someone’s face is 4.5 feet” and that “the officer sprayed at least four feet less than the minimum distance.”
Body-worn camera footage described in the complaint shows Ludwig pleading with the officers to “relax” and saying, “I’m sorry, bro.”
As officers worked to handcuff him, Ludwig called out, “Man, I wasn’t do nothing, bro.”
The DPA also found the officers cited Ludwig without cause. The report states that “the officer engaged in unwarranted action by citing the driver for a more serious offense than the one he committed.”
The officers claimed Ludwig had been speeding and running multiple red lights while they followed him. But the DPA noted that officers followed Ludwig for a prolonged period while remaining within one block of his vehicle and did not consider his driving sufficiently dangerous to initiate a traffic stop.
The officers later told a sergeant that Ludwig had engaged in felony evasion of an attempted traffic stop, resulting in his vehicle being towed for felony evasion. However, “the officers admitted never attempting a traffic stop of the driver,” according to the DPA.
The DPA found that speeding and running red lights did not necessarily constitute reckless driving without considering the surrounding circumstances and whether the conduct presented a substantial and unjustifiable risk of harm.
The DPA concluded that Ludwig’s alleged speeding and red-light violations “did not rise to a level of danger sufficient to induce the officers to effect a traffic stop.”
Nevertheless, an officer issued Ludwig a reckless driving citation, an offense that justified towing the vehicle.
The officers only realized they had entered the wrong plate after Ludwig was in handcuffs, according to the Public Defender’s Office. They arrested and booked him anyway.
Ludwig could not afford the impound fee to retrieve his car, and the city sold it at auction.
Prosecutors charged Ludwig with reckless driving and resisting arrest. They refused to drop the charges and only did so after Ludwig died in September 2025.
According to the Public Defender’s Office, prosecutors’ final offer to Ludwig’s defense team was diversion, which would have allowed him to avoid a criminal conviction while accepting accountability for wrongdoing. The Public Defender’s Office maintained that Ludwig had done nothing wrong.
The DPA also sustained an allegation against an officer responsible for conducting a supervisory use-of-force evaluation after the encounter.
According to the DPA, the supervising officer believed the use of force was within policy because Ludwig was actively resisting and did not believe officers violated policy by spraying pepper spray within inches of Ludwig’s face.
But body-worn camera footage “clearly showed the officer spraying the driver a few inches from his face, while he was pinned to the ground,” the DPA found.
The DPA concluded that the officer “failed to conduct a proper supervisory use of force evaluation by neglecting to flag the improper pepper spray use.”
Brian Cox, who leads the Public Defender’s Integrity Unit, said the case reflects a broader pattern.
“Nothing justifies the amount of violence that SFPD officers used on Mr. Ludwig, especially when it stemmed from their own mistake,” Cox stated. “This case shows how easily police can wrongfully target someone, unnecessarily escalate an encounter, and take away that person’s freedom.”
“Police officers wield immense authority over the public and should be held to the highest professional standards, which is why we filed this complaint on behalf of Mr. Ludwig,” Cox said.
Deputy Public Defender Brandon Coleman described the toll.
“The officers involved in this have no idea the harm that their actions caused,” Coleman said.
“As a result of this, he lost virtually everything that he owned,” Coleman said. “His car and all the property he had in it was impounded. What little property he had left was lost when the RV that he shared with his girlfriend was towed just a few days later. He told me that he felt like this world lacked compassion for human life and that he had never been given a fair chance in life.”
San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju called for action.
“The DPA investigated and sustained multiple police abuses that Mr. Ludwig suffered. I call on SFPD leadership and the city’s Police Commission to act on these findings and implement every available measure to prevent future misconduct,” Raju said.
“I commend Mr. Ludwig’s bravery for working with our office’s Integrity Unit to bring these abuses to light,” Raju said. “Our Integrity Unit plays a critical role in upholding the rights of San Franciscans who are abused by police and unfairly criminalized by prosecutors.”
Cox said Ludwig did not live to see the outcome.
“Tragically, he is not alive to see that DPA confirmed that he was grossly mistreated by police,” Cox said. “But he showed tremendous courage in exposing this misconduct.”
To comment please go to one of these social media platforms:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavisVanguard
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/peoples-vanguard-of-davis-inc/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davisvanguard/
X: https://x.com/davisvanguard
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vanguardnewsgroup.bsky.social
Subscribe to the Vanguard News letters. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.
