Three years after police officers in Northern California pinned a man face down for about five minutes as he begged for relief, prosecutors announced that the officers would face charges of involuntary manslaughter in the man’s death.
The charges against Eric McKinley, James Fisher and Cameron Leahy, all with the Alameda Police Department at the time, in the death of Mario Gonzalez, 26, were announced on Thursday, after a review by the Alameda County district attorney’s Public Accountability Unit.
The county’s previous district attorney closed the investigation into the officers in 2022, saying that the evidence did not justify criminal charges.
But Pamela Price, who was elected district attorney later that year, reopened the case a year ago.
The new charges were announced just days after the county’s Registrar of Voters announced that a recall campaign against Ms. Price had submitted enough signatures to proceed.
Persons:
Eric McKinley, James Fisher, Cameron Leahy, Mario Gonzalez, Pamela Price, Price
Organizations:
Alameda Police Department, Unit, Voters
Locations:
Northern California, Alameda County