Fuentes

I. BACKGROUND

While on patrol in Hemet one afternoon in September 2018, Detective Matthew

Chavez, who had investigated several dozen stolen car cases, saw a car of a type he knew

was frequently stolen. His partner ran a records check on the license plate, which

confirmed that it had been reported stolen. The officers pulled over the car and told the

driver to put his hands up and outside the window. The driver, later identified as Fuentes,

complied. The officers told Fuentes to open the driver’s side door and exit. Fuentes put

one foot on the ground but then got back into the car and drove off.

The officers pursued Fuentes. Fuentes ran a stop sign, crossed over into oncoming

traffic, and eventually crashed the front of the car into a brick wall. Fuentes then started

running. Chavez, starting on foot about three or four car lengths behind, chased him.

Chavez saw Fuentes reach for something in his waistband, so Chavez shot a taser gun at

him. The taser was ineffective, perhaps because the dart did not penetrate Fuentes’s

clothing, and Fuentes kept running. Chavez caught up and struck Fuentes on the head

with the taser gun out of a concern that Fuentes might arm himself…