Attorneys dispute facts after new details, videos released following Riverside County in-custody death

December 22, 2020 Trevor Montgomery

UPDATED: Thursday, Dec. 24, With additional information from attorneys representing Serrano’s family.

Originally Published: Tuesday, Dec, 22, 2:07 p.m.

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. — In a swift and decisive move following the in-custody death of a man at a Jurupa Valley Stater Bros. market Tuesday evening, Dec. 15, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco held a news conference late Monday afternoon to provide further details and information about the fatal encounter. The Sheriff also released preliminary autopsy and toxicology results that indicate what led to, and ultimately may have caused, the man’s death.

During the briefing, (which can be viewed in its entirety below), Bianco provided a trio of unaltered videos from three different perspectives; including store security footage filmed from above the checkout stands, body-worn camera footage captured by one of the involved deputies, and cell phone footage captured from outside the store by a person who witnessed and managed to film a short portion of the deadly encounter.

Taken into context with each other, those videos show the deceased man, Ernie Serrano, 33, of Jurupa Valley, fought first with a security guard and then deputies inside the store, nearly managing to remove the security guard’s firearm in the process. The videos also showed that once Serrano was handcuffed he stopped breathing, and that deputies and medical personnel at the scene immediately began life saving efforts.

Although medical personnel managed to obtain a pulse and rushed Serrano to a local hospital his condition later deteriorated and he passed away while under the care of hospital staff.

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While carefully choosing his words, Bianco started the conference by addressing Serrano’s loved ones, saying, “I’d like to begin by offering my sincere condolences to the Serrano family.”

“I know this is a difficult time for them and nothing I can say today can make it better for them,” the Sheriff continued; adding, “The Sheriff’s Office is committed to transparency and a full investigation into the death of Ernie Serrano.”

Describing the incident as “a sad and tragic event for all of us,” Bianco said, “Unfortunately the narrative being spread particularly on social media is factually inaccurate and does not provide a complete picture of the incident.”

During an hour-long press conference following the in-custody death of 33-year-old, Jurupa Valley resident, Ernie Serrano, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco laid out the known facts regarding the fatal encounter. The full press conference can be viewed below. RSO image

Bianco went on to explain that deputies’ first encounter with Serrano occurred the evening before the Stater Bros incident, saying deputies were called to a family disturbance in the city of Jurupa Valley Monday, Dec. 14, after one of Serrano’s family members called 911.

The family member, whose name was not released, reported Serrano had recently been released from jail and was under the influence of methamphetamine; telling emergency dispatchers that he was “paranoid and not acting rational.”

The caller also reportedly said Serrano was “out of control and refusing to leave the location.”

“Once deputies arrived at the location they found Mr. Serrano was aggressive and belligerent and showed obvious signs of being under the influence of drugs,” Bianco continued.

During that initial contact, Serrano “became combative with deputies”, who were forced to use a Taser to gain his compliance, according to Bianco; who added that two deputies sustained minor injuries during the arrest.

After the Monday evening arrest, Serrano was treated at a local hospital and later booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside on suspicion of being under the influence and felony resisting arrest causing injury to a peace officer.

However, “because of the state imposed zero-bail, he was immediately released from custody,” leaving the detention center around 9 a.m. the following morning, according to Bianco.

Later that evening beginning around 6:11 p.m., deputies received the first of several calls involving Serrano, according to Bianco; who explained, “We received a call for service at a local grocery store in reference to a man wandering around the parking lot, entering and exiting the store numerous times (and) cutting in front of customers in the checkout line.”

“The caller stated the man appeared to be under the influence of drugs and appeared confused,” explained Bianco.

Without specifying how that initial call ended, Bianco said, “Approximately two hours later at 8:29 p.m., deputies received another call for service at the same location regarding a male refusing to leave the location.”

The caller stated the man appeared to be under the influence of drugs and was refusing to leave the store, describing Serrano as “irrational and combative.”

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Approximately 25 minutes of store security surveillance footage released during the briefing showed Serrano inside the store interacting with no less than six store employees and managers as well as two uniformed security guards, one of whom was armed with a firearm, Taser and pepper spray.

Although the surveillance footage did not include sound and was filmed at approximately one frame per second, during the first nine minutes of the video Serrano can be seen pacing back and forth between two checkout stands being operated near the store’s front doors.

He can be seen repeatedly grabbing various random items and placing them at one of the checkout counters, as if intending to pay for them. He can also be seen interacting with at least four clerks and two managers while repeatedly going from one checkout counter to the other as other customers attempted to make their own purchases and stay out of his way.

According to Bianco, after Serrano ran out of money he even tried using his driver’s license to pay for the items. One of those items was a package of cookies, according to one witness who filmed a short, one-minute long portion of the incident; which was later widely shared across social media.

As the disturbance continued, a man who appeared to be an unarmed security guard can also be seen interacting with Serrano before a second, armed security guard arrived. But due to the lack of audio it was not known what was said throughout the initial incident.

Footage captured by a store’s surveillance camera shows Serrano first resisting two security guards before he began fighting with one of the two guards. The violent struggle lasted approximately five minutes. RSO image

When an armed security guard arrived and attempted to detain Serrano in front of one of the checkout stands, Serrano can immediately be seen pulling away, leading to a violent struggle between the two that continued for about the next five minutes.

During the ensuing lengthy confrontation, Serrano can be seen violently fighting with and resisting the security guard between the two checkout stands. As the struggle between the two continued, numerous items were knocked or pulled from the checkout stand shelves and both employees and store guests were sent scrambling out of the way of the two.

As the physical confrontation continued, deputies who were still responding to the store were notified that Serrano was fighting with the security guard and had attempted to remove the guard’s holstered firearm.

At that time the call was upgraded to a battery and an assault with a deadly weapon, according to Bianco.

“It was relayed that pepper spray and a Taser had been used by security on Mr. Serrano,” Bianco explained; adding, “While deputies were in route a deputy recognized the description of the subject in the call as matching the description from Serrano from the prior night.”

“That information was broadcast to responding deputies for officer safety,” the Sheriff continued.

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When the first deputy arrived at the scene he saw Serrano still inside the store and fighting with the security guard. A total of five sheriff’s officials, including at least one corporal and one sergeant, ultimately responded to the incident.

“Deputies intervened and attempted to detain (Serrano); however, he did not comply with verbal commands,” Bianco explained.

“One of the deputies deployed a Taser, which briefly incapacitated Mr. Serrano causing him to fall to the ground,” said Bianco.

After only a few seconds Serrano can be seen jumping back up to his feet and continued ignoring the deputies commands, at which time another deputy used his baton to strike the still resisting man in his arm and leg “in order to gain compliance,” Bianco explained; adding, “As a note, this is where the cell phone video begins.”

Store security surveillance footage shows deputies interacting with Serrano after he was handcuffed following a physical confrontation with an armed security guard and then deputies at a Jurupa Valley Stater Bros market. RSO image

Surveillance footage showed that after the baton strikes proved ineffective, another deputy tackled Serrano to the ground, where a Taser was again used, which allowed deputies to gain control and handcuff him.

The store’s surveillance video showed that less than one minute passed from the time the first deputy approaches Serrano until the moment he was placed into handcuffs.

Two sets of cuffs were used to allow “less strain on his shoulders and arms,” Bianco explained; saying once Serrano was in custody deputies requested paramedics respond to the scene to treat his injuries.

As the store’s video continues for the next eleven minutes, a deputy’s body-worn camera picks up the narrative, as the deputy races into the store to assist other deputies already inside the store struggling with Serrano. His body camera footage continued for the next ten minutes.

As the deputy rushes in, two deputies can be seen actively fighting with Serrano, while two other deputies, including the one who had administered the baton strikes, stood on either end of the aisle.

As Serrano continues struggling, a Taser deployment can be heard moments before Serrano is handcuffed, lifted to his feet, and placed head down on the aisle’s checkout conveyor belt.

Although his face was bloodied and he suffered several contusions from the struggle and baton strikes, he appeared otherwise fine and continued shouting at the deputies over the next several minutes while waiting for paramedics to arrive.

As deputies waited, Serrano repeatedly tried to lift up and away from the two who were holding him and can be heard yelling, “Let me go! Let me go, man! You know who I am! I’m Ernie Serrano!”

“Ernie, we know who you are,” one of the deputies responds, while patting him on the shoulder in an attempt to get him to calm down.

“Keep calm man,” the deputy is heard saying, while other deputies can be heard coughing due to exposure from the pepper spray deployed by the armed security guard. A deputy can later be heard asking one of the market’s employees to prop the store’s doors open to allow the irritant to dissipate.

Deputies eventually placed a “spit mask” over Serrano’s head, due to him spitting and because of the blood on his face.

Body-worn camera footage filmed by one of the deputies during Tuesday’s fatal encounter show Serrano being held down at one of the checkout stands while yelling at deputies. He stopped breathing just a few minutes later. RSO image

A short time later, deputies realized Serrano had stopped breathing and immediately set him down on the ground and removed his handcuffs as well as spit-mask.

As deputies began life saving efforts one of the deputies can be heard asking, “Excited delirium?”, referring to a condition – usually drug induced – that can cause extremely irrational and delusional behavior, aggressive violence and unexpected strength.

It can also cause very high body temperature and a dramatic increase in blood pressure and has been cited as the primary or contributing cause of death in countless, law enforcement and non-law enforcement related death investigations across the nation.

As the body-cam footage continues, one of the deputies is seen performing CPR as paramedics and other emergency personnel began arriving and ultimately took over life-saving efforts.

At one point, one of the deputies can be heard telling paramedics, “Yesterday, his pulse was at 190 when we contacted him,” before adding that during the three hours he had spent with Serrano at the hospital the previous night his pulse had remained elevated in the 177 to 184 range.

Paramedics were eventually able to obtain a pulse before transporting Serrano to an area hospital for further treatment explained Bianco; adding, “Sadly, despite lifesaving measures, Mr. Serrano’s condition deteriorated and he passed away at the hospital.”

The Sheriff went on to explain that a preliminary hospital toxicology report showed Serrano tested positive for amphetamines, benzodiazepine and marijuana. However, complete toxicology reports will not be available for several weeks, according to Bianco.

An autopsy performed earlier in the day showed “several contusions … on his right arm and lower extremity consistent with baton strikes. There were no broken bones or severe injuries noted,” explained Bianco. However, Serrano did have a contusion under his chin, “what appeared to be a black eye”, and evidence of the Taser deployments.

“There were no other indications of trauma and no signs of asphyxiation,” the Sheriff continued; adding, “One major finding was that Mr. Serrano’s lungs were about twice the size as normal, indicating a drug overdose.”

“Preliminary findings, and I repeat preliminary, indicate the cause of death was acute methamphetamine intoxication causing a fatal arrhythmia while struggling with deputies,” Bianco said.

Although Serrano has had prior encounters and arrests with law enforcement officials in Los Angeles and Orange counties for drugs, assaults and resisting arrest, the Dec. 14-15 incidents were his first arrests in Riverside County, according to Bianco.

The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office is leading the ongoing investigation, with assistance from the Sheriff’s Force Investigations Detail (FID) and the department’s Central Homicide Unit.

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After Bianco’s press conference attorneys representing the Serrano family disputed the Sheriff’s claims; saying Serrano’s cause of death was caused by the way Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies held him down, “in effect preventing him from breathing.”

During their own press conference held outside the Stater Bros where the deadly encounter occurred, attorney Humberto Guizar of the Justice X law firm said that Bianco’s claims that Serrano died solely as a result of drug use “is ridiculous.”

“You can’t say it’s just drugs when they’re holding him in that position where he can’t breathe,” Guizar said during the Dec. 23 press conference. “They put a mask on his face when he says he can’t breathe, he has blood in his mouth and is choking on his own blood.”

Arguing that deputies are trained to recognize when someone cannot breathe and should have turned Serrano over once he was handcuffed, Guizar claimed that Serrano’s “facedown positioning on the conveyor belt, along with factors such as elevated heart rate and the shock of the situation, led to positional asphyxia.”

“Any forensic pathologist will be able to say this is positional asphyxia,” Guizar continued; adding, “We see his cause of death in the video.”

A prayer vigil and rally was held in Serrano’s memory Sunday with attendees calling for answers and transparency about his death, while a GoFundMe page created to help Serrano’s family cover funeral costs and other expenses had raised more than $20,000 as of this afternoon.

Watch Bianco’s news conference below (Warning – Viewer Discretion is advised):

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Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 49, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, (the now defunct) Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.