Personal Account Details Brutality by First Alarm Guards as SCPD Looks On

Sheila Marie posted the following message on Facebook yesterday:

"Hey guys, I seriously need your help. I'm sharing this on behalf of my brother who wants his story told and shared as much as possible in hopes of getting justice. He is a victim of police brutality and assault. He lives in Santa Cruz California and we have been having a difficult time finding anyone to represent him in this matter. I have/am contacting countless lawyers and acting on his behalf right now. Any information would be helpful, PLEASE share this post everywhere and maybe he will get some help. It is a very long read, but if you take the time to please read it and share it I would really appreciate it. Thank you."


Tommy Baca's personal account is as follows:


I am seeking justice as a victim of a brutal group assault which resulted in surgery for a posterior acetabular fracture (fractured hip plate) and superior dislocation of the left femoral head. The assault happened at the hands of three private patrol security guards, who attempted to engage me in mutual combat. When I refused and ran away, I was chased down and savagely beaten in retaliation. The worst of the injuries were performed in the presence of at least two police officers (Santa Cruz Police Department).

After a concerned person called an ambulance, one of the police officers, and one of the guards, picked me up and dragged me to the police officer's patrol car and placed me inside. I was unable to move without triggering intense pain, and, unable to stand or walk. It was closing time at a local bar and there were patrons exiting the bar. The assault took place in the middle of a city street directly in front of the bar. It was between 2:30 and 3:00 A.M.

After being placed in the patrol car, the police officer drove me to a relatively deserted location, wrote me a citation for misdemeanor assault, and then, helped me out if his patrol vehicle and left me there.

I lied on the sidewalk for about four and a half hours and urinated myself. I was unable to move perhaps two feet, as I attempted to drag my body towards an alcove to gain warmth.

Finally at about 7:30 A.M, when the sun arrived, a kind woman called an ambulance and waited with me until it arrived. A local code enforcement officer was present with paramedics to make sure I was taken to the emergency room. The local hospital transfered me to an out of county trauma unit to a specialist to manage the injuries.

The surgical procedure left me with an 18" surgical wound and took 30 sutures to close the wound. I was released to a skilled nursing facility for post-surgery trauma care.

I have all hospital records and X-rays pertaining to the crime. I am certain that there is more than enough evidence to substantiate my claims such as: dispatch records, shoulder cameras, audio/video inside the patrol car, traffic control cameras at the stop lights and intersections, cameras inside of the parking garage where I ran away from my assailants, and several eye witnesses.

I am not so much worried about financial compensation as I am about making the men responsible to answer for their crimes. I am having a terrible time seeking a criminal prosecution. I am also certain that if these men are allowed to get away with their crimes and stay at their jobs, they will continue at this type of behavior and perhaps even kill someone. I have been in shock from the assault and only recently begun to talk about it. I have also become afraid of the local law enforcement and security agencies who are employed with the trust to keep us safe from the type of crimes they have made me a victim.

Please, help me in any way you possibly can, advice, representation , or otherwise as I am inexperienced at this type of thing. Again, I am not so much interested in financial compensation as I am about my peace of mind and right to be left alone. I am a recluse and considered "homeless", and I am most often extremely misunderstood because of that fact.

After researching Penal Codes, I have found that battery causing great bodily injury is merely an element of the greater crime that was committed. The injuries I sustained employed with specific intent for purposes of revenge and retaliation to put me in torture. Aggravated Mayhem perfectly describes the crime that was committed. I was treated inhumanely and I feel oppressed. I live in Santa Cruz county in California, but I am working through my sister as a liaison in Las Animas, Colorado.

Thank you so much.

Sincerely,
Tommy Baca

Events of June 11, 2017 in Santa Cruz, California.

⦁ About 2:30 A.M., I was walking through the Locust Street Parking Garage. The bar across the street, Cedar Street, was closing, and, people were crowding the streets and sidewalks. So, I attempted to avoid the crowd by cutting through the garage. I was very sleepy. My immediate desination was the portable restroom located in the parking lot adjacent to the garage on Cedar Street.

⦁ A small pick-up truck operated by First Alarm appeared. The driver of the truck, Bryan Antonovych told me that I could not "hang out" there, and he ordered me to vacate the premises. I replied that I was actually on my way out.

⦁ As I walked near the painted pedestrian walkway inside of the garage, Antonovych drove the truck slowly behind me. I realized then that I recognized Antonovych. I walked back to the truck to inquire whether or not the recognition was mutual.

⦁ There were two other security patrol officers in the truck. One of the men said to me, rather harshly, that I had "no business" being there, and that I was "trespassing" and on "private property" and that the "restrooms" were "closed." I immediately dropped the subject with Antonovych and continued my departure from the garage.

⦁ The truck stopped and all three of the security officers exited the vehicle. They followed me on foot. One of the men extended his baton. I noticed that the man had done so when I heard a loud snap. When I turned my head back towards them, without slowing my gait, I saw the man with the baton, and, I repeated my intent to leave the garage and pointed towards the portable restroom. I was almost out of the garage at this point.

⦁ The man with the baton said, "It doesn't look like you're going anywhere to me." Something told me to move toward eyewitnesses. Instinctually, on impulse, I turned to my left toward Cedar Street, where the bar was closing, and where patrons were still exiting and people were on the sidewalks and streets.

⦁ Almost at the same instant that I turned, Antonovych said to me in a friendly manner something like, "Hey, hold on, I want to talk to you." and "It will only take a minute". Against my better judgement, I stopped and turned around, either hoping. to clear up a misunderstanding, to see if he did recognize me (he said before that he did not), or to see if somehow I could possibly be of some kind of help. I was exhausted, but I should have known better to even stop. After I stopped, I turned and said, "Okay, what's the matter?"

⦁ Antonovych then launched into a verbal assault and tried to engage me into mutual combat. He said, "I see that you talk tough, you walk like you're tough. I see you like to act tough, well, let's see what you got, square up!"

⦁ This completely caught me off guard. Confused, I put both my palms face up and slowly raised my hands about shoulder height. I did this so as to appear defenseless and non-combative. I said to him, "Look, I don't want any problems" and "I'm just looking for somewhere to get some sleep."

⦁ Antonovych continued to rant his tirade, "let's see what you got" and "square up!" He repeated these phrases several times. The guard with the baton said, "Yeah, we're off camera now." I glanced at the baton. I also noticed that Antonovych was excitedly tapping on the handle of his holstered weapon on his left hip. The pistol looked to me rather large by the handle. Like a large caliber revolver.

⦁ I was exhausted, confused and not making any sense of the situation and I said to myself, " I can't believe they let you carry that."

⦁ I really wasn't talking to him (Antonovych). Tired and dumbfounded I was making an observation out loud to myself. But, this statement seemed to agitate Antonovych. He started to go on that it was registered and that he was licensed to carry and how it was all "legit."

⦁ After the guard with the baton had stated that we were off camera, Antonovych squeezed the area between his eyes, the bridge of his nose. He inhaled deeply and squinted his eyes shut, wrinkling his forehead. Suddenly, he spat towards my feet as if he were disgusted.

⦁ The guard with the baton said, "Did you just spit on him?" and then answered, "You did, I saw you!" Then, Antonovych began to rapidly run in place as if he were a football player at the line of scrimmage about to go for a pass, waiting for the ball to snap.

⦁ Sensing that I was in danger, and after being frozen in fear during the confrontation, I turned and ran out in the middle of Cedar Street, straight to the area directly in front of the bar that was closing.

⦁ Upon arriving in front of the bar, in the middle of Cedar Street, I voluntarily curled into a ball, and covered my head, and awaited an impending assault. I knew that Antonovych was directly behind me giving chase.

⦁ Antonovych pulled out my right arm and immediately began to twist my wrist. The other two guards turned me over and splayed me out, each straddling a leg. The guard who had the baton was on my left leg. At some point, I realized that he had placed an object underneath my left buttock. He began to work intently at doing something, and, I inquired to what he was doing, however, most of my attention was focused on my right wrist which Antonovych continued to twist.

⦁ My wrist had previously been injured, and, I was awaiting surgery. My psych doctor was helping me find a place where I could have the procedure take place. The bones of my wrist were shattered, and the forearm is noticably deformed. I told Antonovych of this injury and I was screaming in pain. His reply was to "stop resisting."

⦁ Suddenly, my hip area felt as though it crumbled. It was painful and I knew something drastic had happened. I then took notice that a police officer was present.

⦁ I begged the police officer for help. The police officer said, "have you had enough? and then, "Okay, Santa Cruz Police, I'll take it from here." As he relieved Antonovych, he began to place me in handcuffs; the guard who had the baton removed the object, which he had placed underneath my left buttock. When I hit the ground I then noticed I had been badly injured. I shifted so as to achieve a more comfortable position, but any movement triggered intense pain. I screamed in agony.

⦁ The police officer told me to calm down and stop screaming. Then, the guard who had the baton picked up my left leg, and pulled it forcefully with both arms while twisting with the weight of his body. I could actually visualize the femoral head become dislodged from my pelvic region and was screaming and crying in intense pain.

⦁ By this time, the police officer finished and began to interview the guards. He told me several times to stop screaming and calm down. I asked for an ambulance. The police officer said I "sounded like a baby."

⦁ I heard what I had assumed at the time to be police dispatch, but I now suspect it was a radio for First Alarm. There was a woman who knew my name and was very concerned, she said "Tommy, is that you?"

⦁ The woman on the radio continued, "Tommy, what happened"- "Can you tell me what happened"- "Are you hurt?"- "I'll try to send some help, okay?"- "Where are you?"

⦁ I told her that I was unable to move and that I needed an ambulance, and that I thought that my leg was broke or something. I knew that I was severely injured, but I wasn't sure exactly how bad it was, or exactly how I was injured.

⦁ Antonovych claimed that I had spit on him, which I denied. The police officer replied, "yes you did." When I reasserted that I had not, the police officer said, "well, I think you did." And, "I see the spittle on his shirt."

⦁ Then the police officer demanded that I stand up and walk to his patrol car and get inside. Despite telling him several times that I could not, and that I needed medical attention, he continued to demand that I do so.

⦁ Finally, the police officer and Antonovych picked me up and dragged me to the police car. That's when I noticed that a senior officer of the Santa Cruz Police Department was also present in observation.

⦁ The third security guard never spoke a word the entire time. Neither did the senior police officer.

⦁ The police officer began to drive towards Mission Street. He turned right on Mission and then left at North Pacific Avenue. He asked if I wanted a ride to the hospital. I said that I did. I had previously felt harrassed at the Dominican Hospital and felt reluctant, but I knew I needed medical attention desperately. The police officer then said that he didn't really want to take me to jail and that I seemed to have calmed down and that he didn't think that I was going to cause any trouble.

⦁ He asked me again if I still wanted to go to the hospital. He said, "It doesn't hurt that bad, does it?" I couldn't believe was I was hearing. I couldn't make sense of anything at that point, and honestly, I didn't trust him. I was in shock. I kept saying that I couldn't believe this was happening. I desperately wanted to get away from this police officer, I begged him to just let me out of the car right there.

⦁ He stopped and opened the door that was by the curb where he stopped, near the corner of North Pacific and River Streets. He told me that I would have to get out of the car on my own and stand up.

⦁ I told the police officer that I was physically unable to stand. He told me I would have to get out of the car and stand so that I could sign a citation. The was able to convince him to help me out of the car and up onto the curb where I would be able to grab a light pole so that I could retain my balance.

⦁ I wrapped both arms around the light pole and stood precariously on my right leg with the left injured portion of my body dangling. It was extremely painful. Tears flooded both cheeks. I was sobbing and saying, " I can't believe this is happening", and, "I can't believe they did this to me." The police officer replied, "I really don't care." As I looked at his name tag and noticed the identity of the officer, something like -Burruell- I couldn't help but ask him, "Then, why did you choose a police officer as your profession?"

⦁ He told me to stay out of downtown for the rest of the night. As he tore off my copy of the citation, the PC 240, misdemeanor assault, Burruell declared, "Well, no injuries to report here," and, "Make sure you show up to court." He then got back into his patrol car and left.


If you are able to assist Mr. Baca, please contact his sister:
https://www.facebook.com/XcxhxaxosX/posts/10215970608843260