BAKERSFIELD, CA - A 33-year-old Bakersfield man died in Sheriff's Department custody Wednesday morning after an eight-minute fight with deputies in front of Kern Medical Center.
Deputies said the man, David Silva, was immediately combative and fought to avoid arrest.
But, that account is disputed by eyewitnesses who say they videotaped the confrontation and then fought all day to keep the Sheriff's Department from taking their tape.
Deputies said they had to use batons and a police dog to subdue Silva during the fight.
"The suspect continued to resist the deputies and fight with the deputies," said Ray Pruitt, Kern County Sheriff's Department.
Silva died at Kern Medical Center shortly after he was taken into custody around 12:40 a.m.
Pruitt said it took five deputies and two CHP officers to get Silva under control.
"There were no tasers deployed. It's my understanding there was no pepper spray," added Pruitt.
But, there's another side to this story in southwest Bakersfield.
Detectives knocked on the door of Melissa Quair around 2 a.m. seeking two cell phones.
She didn't want to go on camera but said the family was at KMC visiting a relative overnight. They didn't just witness what happened with Silva, they captured it on video.
"The first phone they seized they basically said 'you can do this the easy way or the hard way.' The hard way is they are going to keep him up all night until they could find a judge to sign a search warrant. It was a little heavy-handed on the part of the officers. These were just well-meaning citizens who videotaped an incident and had no grudge against anybody and doing what they could as citizens and yet they were treated as criminals," said attorney John Tello.
The family hired attorney John Tello to represent them. They say the video shows Silva did nothing to provoke deputies.
"Just listening to them. It's going to show numerous officers beating a man who was basically unconscious. And, they're claiming, I haven't verified this, the individual was handcuffed behind his back and those handcuffs were attached to the leggings on his feet," added Tello.
Deputies eventually obtained a search warrant and left with both phones.
"Anybody will tell you, you hogtie a person, it depresses the diaphragm and the person can't breathe and the person may die," said Tello.
An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday to determine how Silva died.
Silva pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of disturbing the peace in 2008. A drunk and disorderly case was dismissed in 2010.
Deputies said the man, David Silva, was immediately combative and fought to avoid arrest.
But, that account is disputed by eyewitnesses who say they videotaped the confrontation and then fought all day to keep the Sheriff's Department from taking their tape.
Deputies said they had to use batons and a police dog to subdue Silva during the fight.
"The suspect continued to resist the deputies and fight with the deputies," said Ray Pruitt, Kern County Sheriff's Department.
Silva died at Kern Medical Center shortly after he was taken into custody around 12:40 a.m.
Pruitt said it took five deputies and two CHP officers to get Silva under control.
"There were no tasers deployed. It's my understanding there was no pepper spray," added Pruitt.
But, there's another side to this story in southwest Bakersfield.
Detectives knocked on the door of Melissa Quair around 2 a.m. seeking two cell phones.
She didn't want to go on camera but said the family was at KMC visiting a relative overnight. They didn't just witness what happened with Silva, they captured it on video.
"The first phone they seized they basically said 'you can do this the easy way or the hard way.' The hard way is they are going to keep him up all night until they could find a judge to sign a search warrant. It was a little heavy-handed on the part of the officers. These were just well-meaning citizens who videotaped an incident and had no grudge against anybody and doing what they could as citizens and yet they were treated as criminals," said attorney John Tello.
The family hired attorney John Tello to represent them. They say the video shows Silva did nothing to provoke deputies.
"Just listening to them. It's going to show numerous officers beating a man who was basically unconscious. And, they're claiming, I haven't verified this, the individual was handcuffed behind his back and those handcuffs were attached to the leggings on his feet," added Tello.
Deputies eventually obtained a search warrant and left with both phones.
"Anybody will tell you, you hogtie a person, it depresses the diaphragm and the person can't breathe and the person may die," said Tello.
An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday to determine how Silva died.
Silva pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of disturbing the peace in 2008. A drunk and disorderly case was dismissed in 2010.