Bay Area family wants answers after woman dies following police custody

By John Ramos

The family of an elderly Brentwood woman is demanding answers after she was injured while in police custody and later died of those injuries.

On Sept. 26, police were called to a home on Broderick Drive in Brentwood. Outside, they found 72-year-old Yolanda Ramirez, who had arrived to take her brother to a doctor’s appointment. She was having some kind of argument with another family member inside the house.

“There was some kind of disturbance of the peace situation. And that’s how they were called to go there,” said Yolanda’s son, Rich Ramirez. “I’m starting to hear about some of the events that had transpired through witnesses, neighbors that are coming forward.  I haven’t heard anything from the police at all.”

Ramirez said police have yet to speak directly with the family about what happened, but they have heard from neighbors who witnessed the incident.

“They observed, as the officer was taking her to the car, the officer striking her head on the window,” said Melissa Nold, the attorney representing the Ramirez family.  

Nold said when EMTs arrived, Yolanda was unconscious and covered in vomit with injuries to her wrists from the handcuffs. She died seven days later at the hospital. But Nold said, when Yolanda first arrived at the ER, doctors asked the family what happened because police hadn’t told them.

“We don’t think that they told the EMTs, the medical staff, what happened to her, about the head injury,” said Nold. “Because vomiting is a sign of pressure in the brain and a head injury. So, had they properly told that, they wouldn’t be asking the family what happened. How the heck would the family know?  Had they said she struck her head on a fixed object, they would have had her in CT immediately, right? She’s not conscious. She never, to our knowledge, never regained consciousness.”

A document ordering Yolanda’s car to be towed lists her as being arrested for “PC 148,” resisting arrest. But since her death, there had been no public announcements about the incident at all.  

“I personally reached out with my dad a couple times to the police to try to get the police report, to try to understand what happened,” said Ramirez. “We were told that my mom was involved in the incident, and we weren’t. So, if we needed to get that information, she would need to provide that. And given her circumstances and her situation, she was obviously unable to do that.”  

In fact, at this point they said they only know what happened because attorney Nold hired private investigators to interview the neighbors, something she said the police had not done.

“They’re obviously hiding something. I did have family members that have been online, trying to figure out if they’re saying anything,” Ramirez said. “We want answers, we want accountability, and demand some justice.” 

Nold attorney said she has filed a claim with the city and is preparing a lawsuit. She is demanding public release of any body-worn camera or dash-cam footage, which the statement said is being provided to investigators from the District Attorney’s office.

Late Wednesday afternoon, after multiple calls from the media, the police issued a written statement, saying Yolanda was placed under arrest after she “attempted to flee the scene.”  It said medical personnel were contacted when she appeared to be having a “medical issue” in the back of the patrol car.  

The statement made no mention of a head injury, and no one was made available on Wednesday to answer questions.