Yesterday (Feb. 12), the Atlanta Black Star published an article revealing that the family of Chinedu Okobi settled a wrongful death lawsuit for $4.5 million with the San Mateo County Police Department in California. In 2018, the Morehouse grad died at the hands of police after being tased for jaywalking.
Around 1 p.m. on Oct. 3, 2018, Deputy Joshua Wang reportedly observed 36-year-old Okobi jaywalking in the 1400 block of El Camino Real in Millbrae. According to police records, when Wang attempted to stop the Morehouse grad, he was ignored. The deputy then used his radio to call for “all available police” units to assist him with the Black man crossing the street. Footage from the responding officers’ dashcam revealed at least five cops showed up and approached Okobi. As the policemen got closer, the victim held his hands up and asked, “What I do?”
Okobi continued walking as he asked the officers what was going on and they eventually moved in to make an arrest. “Stop resisting! You’re going to get tased. Get on the ground now,” one cop said in the footage. Described as six feet tall and 333 pounds, Okobi was no match for the powerful force of multiple tasers. After informing the cops that he was unable to breathe, not much was done to diffuse the situation. “Is he breathing? Watch his breathing. Roll him on his side,” another deputy said.
An autopsy later determined that Okobi died from cardiac arrest. “My brother never attacked any of the deputies. He did not assault anyone. My baby brother, as big as he was, didn’t even defend himself,” one of his siblings said on social media following his passing. Last year, San Mateo County spokeswoman Michelle Durand discussed the family’s lawsuit: “It is certainly the largest law enforcement-related settlement in anyone’s memory.” The filings accused San Mateo County deputies of racially profiling and using excessive force against the Morehouse grad for jaywalking.