Officers won’t face charges for killing man who police said rammed their vehicles
OAKLAND — Three California Highway Patrol officers who fatally shot a 23-year-old unarmed man in 2020 after he rammed a stolen car into their vehicles in Oakland will not face criminal charges, authorities said Monday.
Alameda County Dist. Atty. Nancy O’Malley publicly released the final report on the June 2020 fatal shooting of Erik Salgado and said she agreed with its conclusion “that the evidence does not support criminal charges” against the officers.
The CHP said at the time that the officers were conducting a traffic stop on the Dodge sedan driven by Salgado when he rammed it against their patrols and they opened fire. Salgado was struck at least a dozen times. His pregnant girlfriend was in the passenger seat and was wounded.
Oakland police said the sedan Salgado was driving was one of 74 vehicles stolen from a San Leandro dealership amid protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
John Burris, one of the attorneys representing the Salgado family in a federal civil rights case against the officers, said he was disappointed but not surprised.
“The decision is bittersweet because although [we are] disappointed with the decision it does allows us to go forward,” he added.
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