Alameda County sheriff's deputies temporarily decertified following Santa Rita Jail death charges
(L-R) Alameda County sheriffs deputies Andre Gaston, Mateusz Laszuk, Robinderpal Singh Hayer, Thomas Mowrer, Donall Rowe, Christopher Haendel make first court appearance after being charged with Santa Rita Jail death of Maurice Monk. Nov. 18, 2024.
OAKLAND, Calif. - Nine Alameda County sheriff's deputies are now on the state's police decertification list after the District Attorney charged them with the death of an Oakland man, who lay dying in his cell for days until his body was found, amid a pile of bodily fluids and uneaten food trays.
Ross O. Burruel, Andre Gaston, Christopher J. Haendel, Robinderpal Hayer, Mateusz Laszuk, Thomas Mowrer, Syear Osmani, Donnal Rowe, and Troy Herschel White were all temporarily suspended by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training on Nov. 21. The official reason is criminal proceedings pending on acts that violate the law.
White is the only deputy who was placed on the list much earlier, in August 2023, following allegations of physical abuse and excessive force in an unrelated Santa Rita Jail matter.
Mower and White no longer work for the sheriff's office.
The deputies were already placed on paid administrative leave, and whether they will continue to get paid during their temporary suspension is up to the agency, according to Meagan Poulos, POST spokeswoman.
What the designation means is that deputies cannot "exercise peace officer authority" until the suspension is removed. They can still be employed, just not in a peace officer capacity.
Alameda County Sheriff's Sgt. Roberto Morales told KTVU that the deputies were told they needed to report the charges to POST, which they did. Morales did not say whether the deputies are getting paid during this process.
The temporary suspension will be reliant on the outcome of the criminal charges, which in this case stem from the Nov. 15, 2021, death of Maurice Monk.
On Nov. 13, outgoing DA Pamela Price charged the nine deputies and two medical staff with felony dependent adult abuse and neglect. Three of the 11 were also charged with falsifying documents, also a felony.
The defendants have already made their first court appearance but have not yet entered pleas.
Their next court date is set for Dec. 16.
Last month, Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez told KTVU in an email that she was "deeply disappointed by District Attorney Price’s decision to pursue charges, as I do not believe they are justified. I will continue to support our staff throughout this challenging process."
Oakland man left for dead at Santa Rita Jail, exclusive video shows
An Oakland man was left for dead for several days at Santa Rita Jail as new allegations are surfacing for the first time that deputies doctored the books to make it seem like they were checking in on him, when in fact, they did not provide any meaningful care, KTVU has learned.
KTVU first reported the conditions of Monk's death after obtaining exclusive body camera video inside the jail that shows no one physically checked on the 45-year-old man, who is seen lying half naked on his bunk, for at least three days, possibly four.
And when deputies finally found Monk's body, stacks of uneaten food trays and pills lay scattered about the floor near an oblong puddle of urine by the foot of his bed.
When deputies finally opened the door to Monk's cell and walked in, they realized he had been left on his bunk motionless for so long that the red print reading "Alameda County" on the front of his jail-issued T-shirt had stained his chest, mixing with fluids that had been leaking out of his body, according to an internal sheriff's report.
After a month in custody at Santa Rita Jail, Monk was officially declared dead of hypertensive cardiovascular disease.
But deputies’ narratives and a review of more than 150 body camera videos, obtained through a civil lawsuit reveal that Monk was likely dead, or dying, for several days before that.
Last year, Monk's daughter and son won $7 million – an unprecedented amount from the sheriff's office.