The Colusa County District Attorney’s Office has ruled the use of force by California Highway Patrol officers against a suicidal motorist last month was justified.
Joseph Walter Schmid, 59, of Sacramento, killed himself by cutting his throat with a box cutter inside his Dodge Caravan on Sept. 27 on Interstate 5, after first leading law enforcement officers on a pursuit through two counties.
Officers fired a “less lethal” round from a Remington 870-style 12-gauge shotgun and multiple darts from a Taser in an effort to take the distressed man into custody after a short standoff. Their efforts were unsuccessful and Schmid died at the scene of self-inflicted lacerations to his throat and wrists, officials said.
“During the incident in question, law enforcement officers were called upon to shift gears from an arrest to a crisis situation wherein a suicidal individual was armed and injured himself,” said District Attorney Matthew Beauchamp, at the conclusion of his review into the use of force. “The same armed individual had the ability to injure any or all of the involved officers. While force was used by law enforcement officers, it was not deadly force and it was only used to disarm Schmid so that law enforcement officers could both arrest Schmid and render aid. The force used was reasonable under the circumstances and lawful.”
Little is known about the deceased, nor what led to his suicide, other than he was traveling alone with his dog on County Road 13 near Zamora around 8:30 PM.
Schmid had run through a stop sign and would have collided with a patrol vehicle driven by Yolo County Sheriff’s Deputy Mario Cuevas, who was accompanied by his Field Training Officer, Deputy Nicholas Morford, had Cuevas not slowed and taken evasive action.
After the near collision, Cuevas followed Schmid onto County Road 99 and activated his overhead lights to initiate a traffic stop for the moving violation. Schmid, however, proceeded to drive into the Zamora Mini Mart, driving around the gas pumps, before getting back on County Road 99 before pulling over and coming to a stop.
According to the DA’s investigation, which included reviewing reports and video recordings, along with interviewing officers involved in the incident, Cuevas and Moford got out of their vehicle to approach the driver, but before they reached him, Schmid, whose identity was not yet known, made eye contact with the officers in his rearview and side mirrors, then put his car in reverse, nearly hitting the officers and the patrol unit.
Moford reportedly slapped the back of the van to alert the driver, but Schmid put the car back into drive and sped off, eventually entering Interstate 5 and leading the deputies into Colusa County.
Schmid reportedly never exceeded 83 mph, nor did he drive recklessly. According to reports, he periodically changed lanes but used his turning signal.
The pursuit slowed after Williams CHP Officer Margarito Meza deployed a spike strip on I-5 just into Colusa County, which appeared to have punctured, but not disabled, all four tires.
Meza, who was joined by CHP Officer Philip Martinson in the lead, followed by Officer Raymond Close in separate patrol units, attempted to conduct a traffic break as Schmid slowed to speeds between 15 and 40 mph, mostly driving on the shoulder of I-5.
At times, Schmid appeared as if he would pull the vehicle over, only to continue north on the freeway, until he hit a second spike strip near Husted Road. This time, the strip became lodged in the undercarriage.
As Martinson and Close pursued the van, they used their PA system to try and convince Schmid to pull over.
About 20 minutes after the pursuit began, Schmid stopped his van in the middle I-5’s northbound lanes, at which time all officers at the scene assumed a high-risk stop pattern, with Meza on the far left, Martinson and Close next to him, and Yolo County deputies Cuevas and Morford in line on the right hand shoulder.
According to the DA, all law enforcement personnel followed high-risk procedures, giving Schmid orders in English and Spanish to place his vehicle in park and raise his hands.
Instead of complying, Schmid drove forward and then backwards several times at a slow speed until his vehicle was angled to where he could easily drive into the freeway medium and into the southbound lanes should he decide to speed off.
At the same time, the officers, who were attempting to negotiate with the man, were given a clear view into the vehicle through an open window before Schmid rolled the window up.
As negotiations continued, Schmid opened and closed his doors several times, but refused to exit. Officer Close fired one round from an impact-style rifle, intended to take suspects into custody without deadly force, which shattered the driver’s side window, as Meza and Martinson approached, backed up by Deputy Morford, who was armed with a lethal AR15.
After efforts to subdue Schmid with a Taser failed and officers realized that Schmid had a box cutter and was harming himself, Close again retrieved his “less lethal” shotgun and fired a round at his hand, causing Schmid to drop the weapon.
Officers eventually removed Schmid, who had cut his wrists and throat, from the vehicle and placed him in handcuffs but paramedics were unable to save his life.
Colusa County Animal Control Officers were called to the scene to take his dog into custody. Lucy, according to her tag, was a good natured, well-cared for mixed breed, and FOCCAS was easily able to find her a new home.
Two of the CHP officers involved in the incident have recent histories in which they dealt with potentially suicidal motorists in highly stressful events.
Officer Martinson was patrolling Interstate 5 near Williams in 2019 when he stopped a 25-year-old woman, with a history of mental illness and drug use, for driving in excess of 100 mph. The woman became belligerent, pulled a concealed weapon, and stabbed him in the back when he tried to take her into custody. She committed suicide two months later while in custody in the Colusa County jail.
Also in 2019, Officer Close saved a suicidal woman from certain death when she flung herself from a freeway overcrossing in the Vacaville area. Close managed to push his arms under the fence to grab her ankle as she jumped, dangling her over the Interstate for several minutes, until the local fire department was able to cut a hole in the fence and help him pull the woman to safety.
According to Beauchamp, Schmid had previously served time in prison and had run-ins with law enforcement, including DUI violations, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
His last words before he died was to curse the officers in a raspy voice.
“Ultimately, Schmid succumbed to his self-inflicted injuries and was declared deceased on the scene.”
No charges against the officers will be filed, Beauchamp said. ■