The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office is releasing the body worn camera video footage of the arrest of Gabrielle Lemos that occurred on June 14, 2015. We are also releasing recordings of jail telephone calls made by Gabrielle Lemos.
Previously, the Sheriff’s Office did not release the video and audio because it is protected from disclosure by law. The Sheriff’s office is now able to release the video and audio recordings because they were introduced as an exhibit in Sonoma County Superior Court making them public information.
One of the jail phone call audio recordings is of Gabrielle Lemos speaking to her mother Michelle Lemos. The contents of the conversation contains racially explicit language that is offensive and hateful to our African American community; these are the words of Gabrielle Lemos and her mother Michelle Lemos. Also, be aware that the videos contain obscene language.
It is important to understand the context of the video and the position that Deputy Holton was in during this encounter. He was in a rural area of Sonoma County when he happened upon a parked pickup truck and trailer that was blocking the road. As he investigated, he heard a woman screaming from the house nearby. He saw a man walking quickly towards the pickup truck from the house with several women yelling at him. One of the women was crying. Based on what he saw and heard he suspected he had encountered a domestic related incident.
The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office takes domestic violence very seriously and investigates all incidents of domestic violence to the fullest extent of the law. Deputy Holton was well within his authority and Sheriff’s Office policy to investigate this matter for a possible criminal violation. His conduct and that of the other Deputies involved has been reviewed by Sheriff’s Office Administrators and we are confident they acted honorably and appropriately during this tense rapidly evolving situation.
The Sheriff’s Office is committed to keeping the public informed and we feel it is important that our community understands the types of situations a Deputy Sheriff may encounter on a daily basis.
To view the video and listen to the audio recordings, please follow this link to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh5TvDBrXboG4EiMkTLnnigN36wK6CLQ_
