State AG to conduct independent investigation of Monterrosa death
(Still frame courtesy Vallejo Police Department; Graphic by Solano NewsNet)
The California Department of Justice will launch an independent review into the shooting death of a 22-year-old man by Vallejo police officers during a period of civil unrest last year.
The announcement was made on Thursday by Rob Bonta, the state’s newly-appointed attorney general, who criticized Solano County District Attorney Krishna Abrams for refusing to conduct a thorough review of the Vallejo Police Department after the shooting.
“Seeing the failure of the District Attorney to fulfill this important responsibility, my office will review the case to ensure a fair, thorough, and transparent process is completed,” Bonta said in a prepared statement e-mailed to reporters on Thursday. “This is the right thing to do and I will go where the facts lead. Rebuilding trust in our institutions starts with the actions of each and every one of us. If there has been wrongdoing, we will bring it to light.”
Police fatally shot Monterrosa while responding to a report of a riotous break-in at a Walgreen’s pharmacy in Vallejo. The officer who filed his weapon at Monterrosa mistakenly believed he was armed with a gun, according to body camera footage that was eventually released.
At the time of the shooting, Monterrosa was carrying a hammer, not a gun.
The shooting drew strong condemnation of the Vallejo Police Department at a time when community trust in law enforcement was fractured. The department was already facing an increase in public scrutiny over prior police shootings, but Monterrosa’s death came when the national spotlight was focused heavily on uniformed officers following the death of George Floyd, who was arrested by a police officer later convicted of his murder.
Increased demands for public accountability came after an officer with the Vallejo Police Department was accused of destroying a windshield that was considered evidence in the Monterrosa shooting. That officer was later suspended, according to law enforcement sources.
In early March, local police concluded their own investigation into the shooting and subsequent death of Monterrosa. The investigation files were handed over to the Solano County District Attorney’s Office for review, but Abrams declined to take up the probe.
Instead, the district attorney’s office, “without invitation or notice,” attempted to pass on the investigation to the California Department of Justice, the attorney general complained on Thursday. In June, Abrams formally recused her office and the county from participating in a probe of the Vallejo Police Department and Monterrosa’s shooting, “despite the fact that no known circumstances prevented her from discharging her duties,” Bonta said.
“In declaring a recusal, the district attorney’s office continued to acknowledge that it was in fact fully capable of performing a fair and objective evaluation,” Bonta said. “Ultimately, there has been no indication by the district attorney’s office…that any review of the Vallejo Police Department’s investigation will or has occurred in the Monterrosa case.”
Editor’s note: After this story was originally published Thursday afternoon, the Solano County District Attorney’s Office provided a statement of its own regarding the California attorney general’s comments on the Sean Monterrosa investigation. An updated version of this story with the district attorney’s comments can be read by clicking or tapping here.
The California Department of Justice says it will now conduct an independent investigation of its own into the circumstances that led up to the shooting, the shooting itself and its aftermath. That investigation will likely also probe why the Solano County District Attorney’s Office declined to take up the case.
The investigation will conclude with a determination into whether any criminal charges are warranted in the fatal shooting case, state officials said.
“Without accountability, there is no justice,” Bonta said. “It’s past time Sean Monterrosa’s family, the community, and the people of Vallejo get some answers. They deserve to know where the case stands.”
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