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Body-cam videos released in death in Pleasanton police custody
KTVU's Henry Lee reports.
PLEASANTON, Calif. - Body-camera videos show Pleasanton police officers taking Jacob Bauer into custody in 2018 shortly before he died at a hospital.
Rose Bauer is heartbroken over her son's death. She still has not viewed the videos that were released by an attorney for the family.
"Our lives are forever changed and, quite frankly, it's pretty unbearable," she said.
She said her son was mentally ill and should not have died while in the custody of Pleasanton police.
"They're criminals with badges and no other parent should have to go through this. Something needs to be done," she said through tears Friday.
Bauer had been acting erratically and breaking things inside a Raley's store.
During a struggle, officers punched and tased Bauer, saying he was violently resisting them.
Bauer later complained about not being able to breathe.
"Calm down, man," one officer says in one of the body-cam videos.
"Can't breathe!" Bauer says.
"No, you can breathe, that's why you're yelling still, OK?" the officer responds. "Just try and relax."
Bauer later died at a hospital. An autopsy determined that he died of "acute methamphetamine toxicity." But the coroner also noted that his airway could have been blocked while police restrained him.
"The police cannot patrol the streets with impunity," said the man's father, John Bauer.
He said he had met with Pleasanton police before his son died and that the department had prior knowledge of his situation. He says police need to respond with social workers and emergency medical technicians to similar calls involving the mentally ill.
"Nobody's been fired, nobody's been disciplined, and you know I come from the private sector and a breakdown like this, you know, is just unforgiveable," he said.
The Alameda County DA's office has cleared all of the officers of any criminal liability. The family has filed a civil lawsuit that's still pending. The city of Pleasanton, through an attorney, declined to comment Friday.