Beeler dismissed a complaint against Oakland Police Officer Michael Stolzman, who had grabbed one of Sheehan’s hands immediately before Pianta took her down.
The case dates back to St. Patrick’s Day 2014, when BART police arrested Sheehan at Oakland’s Lake Merritt station. She was drunk and combative when officers encountered her, and she was arrested on charges of public intoxication, resisting arrest and battery on a police officer.
Pianta was not one of the arresting officers, but he was assigned to drive Sheehan to the Alameda County Jail in Santa Rita. Sheehan urinated in Pianta’s police car and, according to an account from BART filed with the court, “attempted to press her buttocks up against Officer Pianta’s leg in an attempt to transfer urine onto his pants” as they walked into the jail.
BART’s account also describes what happened when Pianta and Sheehan arrived at the jail’s booking desk:
Plaintiff was initially compliant during the booking process. However, her demeanor changed and she threw a hair tie at Officer Pianta which struck the officer. Inexplicably, plaintiff then began looking through her purse and refused the officer’s instructions to stop doing so. Plaintiff attempted to pull the purse away from him. Officer Pianta then placed plaintiff in an arm bar control hold to gain compliance. Plaintiff began resisting and attempted to punch the officer. Acting in self-defense, the officer used an arm bar takedown and guided plaintiff to the ground. Moments later the officer observed blood coming from plaintiff’s facial area and medical assistance was requested. …
Video of the episode — embedded at the top of this post — and Sheehan’s injuries belied Pianta’s account that he “guided” Sheehan to the ground. In fact, she hits the floor with a loud crack that immediately drew calls for medical attention from bystanders, a group that included several police officers.
Sheehan’s injuries included several facial fractures, broken teeth, lacerations to an eyelid and lip and a concussion. Pianta said in a deposition he had not intended to hurt Sheehan and that her injuries were “unfortunate.”
In response to an inquiry Monday, BART was not immediately able to give Pianta’s status with the agency’s police force. In April 2015, ABC7 reported that BART police supervisors had reviewed the case and found Pianta had acted within department policies, adding that BART Police Chief Kenton Rainey had signed off on that finding.
BART’s complete statement on the settlement:
Today BART is accepting responsibility for the injuries caused to Ms. Megan Sheehan while she was in police custody. We hold ourselves to high standards of professionalism, and can and will do better to ensure incidents like this do not happen in the future.
Over the past six years, the BART Police Department has undergone tremendous organizational change and has worked tirelessly to reshape and reform its approach to training and policing to better meet the needs of the communities BART serves.
Some of those reforms include the formation of the Office of the Independent Police Auditor (OIPA) and the BART Police Citizen Review Board (CRB); each tasked with increasing transparency and accountability. Neither office was involved in the case because no complaint was filed. We continue to encourage citizens to participate with both.
Along with these reforms, under Chief Kenton Rainey’s leadership BART has drastically improved the strategic direction of the Police department through the implementation of strong community and 21st century policing best practices. The BART police department has dedicated themselves to protect and serve Bay Area residents, and will continue to do so.
An internal investigation was underway at the time the lawsuit was filed. It was placed on hold pending the outcome of this lawsuit, and now will resume. At the conclusion of the investigation action that is deemed appropriate will be taken.