Sheriff’s Department Presentation Draws Questions

Altadena Sheriff’s Station Captain Jabari Williams faced tense questions from community members Tuesday night after updating the Altadena Town Council on the fatal shooting of Charles Towns by Sheriff’s deputies on January 22.

Towns, a 47-year-old Pasadena resident, was shot by deputies after he attacked and injured two residents with a sharp metal object.

Williams told the meeting that the California Department of Justice has assumed control of the investigation. The Department took over the case just 48 hours after the incident, he said.

“This is pursuant to Assembly Bill 1506, where if at any point (the Department of Justice) believes someone is unarmed at the time of the shooting, they will take over the investigation,” Williams said.

“We don’t have a timeline on when they’re gonna complete their investigation at this point,” Williams said. He said that about 30 statewide shootings are under active investigation, and only two have been completed so far.

According to the State Attorney General’s office, “AB 1506 creates a mandate for an independent, statewide prosecutor, moving forward, to investigate and review officer-involved shootings of unarmed civilians across California. The California Department of Justice (DOJ) will investigate and review for potential criminal liability all such incidents covered under AB 1506, as enacted in California Government Code section 12525.3.”

Williams added, “This is a new assembly bill … so they’re probably not as quick to investigate things at this point, but they’re going to take their time. Until that investigation is done … the Sheriff’s Department is out of the investigation.”

Williams also told the Council, “Once that investigation is complete, based on what the findings are of that investigation and what the Department of Justice decides to do, only then will the Sheriff’s Department conduct their own administrative investigation.”

“And during this administrative investigation,” he continued, “they’ll look at things like policy and procedures that may have been violated, and tactics. They’ll go over everything to see (even) if the person was wearing the right uniform. But nothing will be done by our office until the Department of Justice investigation is completed.”

Williams added that the CDOJ will also perform an autopsy as part of its investigation.

“And then they’ll determine whether or not, if any discipline will be handed down to the participants,” he said. “There are two primary deputies involved in the shooting, and at this point, they are not in the field. They are not working out in the field at this point. However, they are still employed with the Sheriff’s Department.”

Williams took questions in an adjacent conference room from a small group of residents, including Skughofey Earl, who identified himself as Towns’s brother.

Earl peppered Williams with a series of questions about the bodycam video that has been released to the public, asserting that the video had been “edited,” and was not accurate. He also said that only video from two officers was released when at least six officers were on the scene.

Williams could not answer specifics.

“I have only seen what the public has seen,“ he said.

But Sheriff’s Department Lt. Deon Batee, who accompanied Williams, said that “we see officers get written up every day for not turning on their cameras.”

Earl also revealed in the meeting that he and other family members had been called into the Sheriff’s department to review the briefing video before its release.

Williams told the group that input from the family is always sought before the release of any bodycam video, but the family does not have the final authority on the release of the video.

Other residents in the meeting questioned why officers watched Towns attack a victim and only shot him before he prepared to attack another resident.

“Why couldn’t they have stopped him before he attacked the first person? They were watching him,“ said a resident.

Williams told the group that he could not comment due to the ongoing investigation and that he had been directed not to offer his opinion on the incident.

Another resident claimed that there was crossfire from officers at the scene, that no medical aid was rendered to Towns, and that “proper protocol” had not been followed.

“They shot a man who didn’t have a weapon,” he said.

Following the meeting with Williams, Earl said that his brother Charles had substance issues and depression issues, but that the incident was very unlike him.

“He was usually very happy,” said Earl.