04 Mar Ramirez Family Says Delayed Police Video Reopens Wounds in Brentwood Death

The city of Brentwood on Feb. 27 released edited police body camera footage of the detainment of Yolanda Ramirez last September. The family viewed that footage before city officials made it public. (Graphic by Denis Perez-Bravo / The CC Pulse; images by Denis Perez-Bravo, city of Brentwood)

By Denis Perez-Bravo

Five months after Yolanda Ramirez’s death, her family said the recent release of police footage — long after a state-mandated deadline — forced them to relive the trauma and restart their grieving process.

“It was important for us to see it, but it did not need to take this long, because now, we’re starting our grieving process all over again,” Yolanda’s daughter, Becky Ramirez Alcantar, said at a press conference outside Brentwood City Hall on Feb. 27.

Family members, residents and community advocates had been calling for the release of the footage for months after the city did not release it within the 45-day timeframe outlined in Assembly Bill 748, a state law requiring the release of records in critical incidents involving police.

The city of Brentwood said Jan. 6 that it would release the footage by Feb. 28.

The Police Department compiled footage from officers’ body cameras, patrol car cameras and 911 audio. The 47-minute video was shown to the Ramirez family before being released to the public.

By then, the family had conducted a private investigation into the events of the day and obtained a second independent autopsy report, which classified her death as a homicide, citing multiple blunt-force injuries to her head and torso, as well as asphyxiation caused by police restraint. The autopsy by the county coroner attributed her death to natural causes.

“I did not want to watch it because I know that it would just bring everything back after all this time that we’ve been trying to come to terms with what happened,” Ramirez Alcantar said.

On Sept. 26, 2025, Brentwood Police Officers Aaron Peachman and Danielle Tjhia responded to a family dispute between Yolanda Ramirez and her sister on Broderick Drive in Brentwood.

The footage opens with a 911 call from Ramirez’s sister, who asks officers to remove Ramirez from the property. The sister also refused to let their brother leave the house to meet her.

After officers arrived, Ramirez was accused of intentionally knocking over a coffee mug on the front porch. Her sister then asked that Ramirez be arrested for vandalism, and Peachman said she would need to make a citizen’s arrest.

While Peachman spoke with the sister, Tjhia questioned Ramirez, who had moved to the passenger seat of her SUV. After providing her name and age, Ramirez became upset with further questions and told Tjhia she was leaving. Ramirez got up and began walking toward the driver’s seat.

Tjhia called for Peachman, and the footage shows both officers standing close to Ramirez outside the passenger door while telling her she was not free to go. Peachman ordered her to sit on the curb, with Tjhia holding Ramirez’s left wrist.

“Why am I going to be arrested?” Ramirez asked. “Because I want to see my brother?”

Peachman said she was impeding an investigation.

“There are allegations of crimes that have happened,” he said. “Go sit down now, or you will get arrested.”

The footage shows both officers holding Ramirez by the arms and blocking her path. Tjhia then asked, “Do you want handcuffs, Yolanda?”

Ramirez pulled away as the officers maintained their hold. Peachman issued a final warning that she would be arrested. Seconds later, Yolanda exclaimed, “Stop. Don’t do this,” before she was handcuffed.

“It was horrific. It was damaging to my soul to watch my wife being treated the way she was,” Yolanda’s husband, Rudy Ramirez, said at the press conference.

“They ended up killing her over a coffee cup,” he said.

Ramirez and the family said the footage confirms their independent autopsy that classified her death as a homicide.

The footage shows Ramirez resisting as officers attempted to place her into the back seat of a police cruiser. As Tjhia and Peachman tried to get Ramirez inside the vehicle, she fell to her knees.

“Let me call my husband, and I will get in the car,” Ramirez said to Peachman, still on her knees.

About two minutes passed before Peachman and Tjhia appeared to lifting Ramirez by her feet and placing her into the back seat of the cruiser headfirst.

Ramirez’s left leg extended past the seat and out of the left passenger door. Peachman closed the door, pushing Ramirez’s feet and the rest of her body into the car.

Ramirez’s head hit the right passenger door as Peachman closed the left passenger door completely.

As Ramirez struggled to sit up, the footage shows her breathing heavily while fidgeting with the handcuffs put on her at 11:06 a.m.

At 11:12 a.m., she asked for water and was denied by Peachman, while he was looking for citizen’s arrest paperwork for her sister.

At 11:18 a.m., a third police officer opened the cruiser door and found Ramirez with her head tilted to the left side and appearing to suffer a medical emergency.

At 11:21 a.m., after insisting that Ramirez get out of the car and questioning whether her medical distress was real, Tjhia and the third officer called for an ambulance. Ramirez appeared conscious but not responsive.

At 11:23 a.m., officers removed Ramirez’s handcuffs and began to check on her.

Toward the end of the video, Ramirez sat in the back of the cruiser and moved one hand as if punching in numbers or scrolling on a phone, while the left side of her body appeared limp.

At 11:32 a.m., Peachman told paramedics officers were releasing Ramirez to them. It is unclear from the footage whether officers informed paramedics that she had apparently suffered a head injury.

The video cuts there.

“The police have put out a statement saying that they followed protocol. I see none of that in the video,” Yolanda’s son Francisco Ramirez said.

He urged the public to contact the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office to request a coroner’s inquest and possible criminal prosecution of the officers involved.

Family members and their attorney, Melissa Nold, also addressed reporters at the press conference.

Nold expressed confidence that despite the pushback Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton might face for filing criminal charges against a police officer, there is enough evidence in the footage to prosecute Peachman.

“It is time for her to do her job,” Nold said.

The District Attorney’s Office is conducting an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Ramirez’s death and is reviewing police camera footage, medical records and other evidence. The investigation remains ongoing.