13 Nov Brentwood Family Demands Answers After Death of 72-Year-Old Woman in Police Custody

Rich, left, and Rudy Ramirez, the son and husband of the late Yolanda Ramirez, speak about their loss outside Wednesday’s Brentwood City Council meeting. Yolanda died in September while in police custody. (Denis Perez-Bravo / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

Rudy Ramirez recalled the last time he saw his wife conscious before she died following an interaction with the Brentwood Police Department: a morning cup of coffee, and a parting hug and kiss before she left. If he could change that morning now, he said, he would.

“[The house] seems too big anymore. It’s even worse in bed. And for what?” Ramirez told the Brentwood City Council on Wednesday. “Had I known what was going to happen, I’d say, ‘Don’t go, babe. Stay right here with me.’”

Ramirez and dozens of supporters packed the council meeting to demand transparency and accountability in the death of 72-year-old Yolanda Ramirez, who fell unconscious in the back of a Brentwood Police Department patrol car on Sept. 26 and died a week later.. 

Brentwood Police said Yolanda Ramirez had been placed under citizen’s arrest at the request of a family member following a family dispute, according to a Nov. 5 statement. Police said she attempted to flee the scene before being placed in the patrol car and later, “appeared to be having a medical issue,” and immediately called for medical assistance. 

But the family disputes BPD’s version of events.

A claim filed by attorney Melissa Nold on behalf of the family alleges that Yolanda Ramirez was forced to her knees by an officer to be handcuffed tightly before her head was slammed on the police car, then placed inside. She was later taken to the hospital to be treated for a brain bleed, had not attempted to flee, and a citizen’s arrest had not been requested, the family says. 

Neighbor Ashley Jeglum told ABC7 that she saw officers being “pretty rough” when they forced her into the side of the car and then had one of the officers pull her inside the car. Jeglum said officers left her inside the car for at least 45 minutes. 

Nold said that officers did not tell responding medical personnel that Yolanda Ramirez had a head injury and witnesses had not been interviewed by either BPD or anyone from the District Attorney’s Office. 

“This investigation has a stench that many in the community believe is an attempt at a cover-up. The best disinfectant is sunlight,” said Francisco Ramirez, a son of Yolanda.

Surrounded by family, Francisco called for the two officers involved — including one identified as Brentwood Police Officers Association President Aaron Peachman — to be removed from active duty.

The Police Department says an independent investigation by the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office is underway and that it will provide body-worn camera and dash-camera footage in accordance with the law and the county’s Law Enforcement Involved Fatal Incident Protocol. The DA’s office says its report should come in six months. The family’s attorney argues that, under state law, the body-camera footage should have been released within 45 days, or by Nov. 10.

“The family had the right to know what happened,” Nold told council members. “They deserved better, she deserved better, this community deserved better.”