In-Custody Death Investigation - Xavier Moore (Part 10 of 11). Interview with Sergeant Amber...

7/30/2019 In-Custody Death Investigation - Xavier Moore (Part 10 of 11). Interview with Sergeant Amber Phillips (S-17).

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/in-custody-death-investigation-xavier-moore-part-10-of-11-interview-with 1/24

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BERKELEY POLICE DEP-ARTI\,{ENI

/ ? - a#l-/aASE NO.

DATE

(PRJNT)

>-t/-r?. eilNQ

STATEMENT TO INVOLVED OFFICER:

{#T,

your attotney,(PRrNl)

conclude the intersiew at any time.

OFFICEE N8ME

/. tfrra

Bfva- ?Fxi uq F1you are b.i"g teptesented hete at this interviern by

-.You ate not in custody and you ate free to

You are not obligated to answer any questions.

Having thisin miri{ do youny ansurets you do glve may be usedin a court of law.

wish to voluntatiiy proceed with the intewiew?

Ail.rtEEL frhwt$

INVESTIGATOR NAIdE

-1- 28s



INTERVTEW WITH SOT. (AMBER) PHILLIPS'Interviewer: Sgt. Hong

02-1418:20 pm

Case # 2013-08510

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7 INTERVIEW TITTH SGT. (AMBER) PHILLPS8 A=Sgt. Hong

9 el=Ofc. Jesse Grana

I0 A=Sgt (Amber) Phillips

i I Al=(Harry) Stern

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14 Q: AII right Febnrary 14th, 2020 hours. Interview with Sergeant (Amber)

15 Phillipq. {.Ih,I am Sergeant Hong, H-O-N-G.

l617 Ql: Officer Jesse Cnant, J-E-S-S-E, GR-A-N-T.

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19 A: Sergeant (Ambe$ Phillips,last name P-H-I-LL'L-P-S.

'0A1: I'm(Harry) Stem, S-T-E-R-N.

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23 Q: tlh, Sergeant Phillips, uh, you are - you're, uh, you're rank of sergeant. Your

24 badge number please?

2526 A: S-17.

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28 Q: Okay and what was your hire date with Berkeley Police?

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30 A: Julylthinks-6orsomething2004. Julyof2004.

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32 Q: Okay do you have any prior law enforcement experience?

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34 A: No.

35

36Q:

Which patrol operations team do you work?

37

38 A: Team four.

39

40 Q: What are your nornal days worked and normal hours worked?

4l42 A: Mondaythrough Thursday 2030 to 0630 hqu$- ' r',1

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INTERVIEW WITH SGT. (AMBER) PHILLIPS

*"*"H:il'11#1j}i

Case#

'''-fffJ,

44 Q: O- uh, and when we speak of the date of incident we're speaking of February

45 12th wi- w- whichwas a Tuesday and the time of report was somewhffe

46 between 1l:30 and midnight?

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48 A: Yeah.

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50 Q: All right 1l:30 pm and midnight. So, uh, what was your call sign during, uh,

5l your shift on TuesdaY the l2thJ

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53 A: Call sign was S as - as in Sam 17- So S-17.

54

55 Q: Okay and your area of responsibility as S-17?

11 A: LIh, just patrol p- um, super- patrol supervisor, uh, in charge of team four'58

59 Q: Got it. And You're citY wide?

60

6l A: CitY wide.

62,3 e: Okay. Uh, who was your commanding officer a- during this shift?

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65 A: tieutenant Files'

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67 Q: Okay. Is he - is Lieutenarrt Files, F-I-L-E-S, is he your normal commanding

68 officer?69

70 A: Yes.

7t72 e: And he is - is lieutenant basically the Watch Commander conect?

73'74 A:' Correct.

75

76 e: Okay. Prior to the Tuesday shift, um, what sh- what - what was the last shift

77 You worked Prior to TuesdaY shift?

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79 A:lJh,theMondayshiftstarting at2030hours'

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81 Q: Okay. Do you hold any secondary jobs?

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83 A: No.

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85 Q: Prior to Tuesday's shift did you, uh, work any overtime?,6

87 A: No.

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96 A1: And so I would...

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100 Al: ...r:h, the only thing I would ask her, uh, or ask that she'd answer the question

INTERYIEW WITH SGT. (AMBER) PHILI.IPS. lnterviewer: Sgt. Hong

02-1418:20 pm

Case#2013-08510

Page 3

Okay. Um, had you taken any medication during this period? Prescription or

otherwise.

Uh, prescnptlon.

lJh, um, can you say what..,

only if it's, uh, a prescription medication that would affect her ability to

perceive, react, or affect her memory. So is it any of those categories?

No it was not.

Got it, accepted okay. Uh, ha- have you consurned any alcohol intiie past 24

hours?

No.

Do you have any medicalconditions?

No.

Uh, prior to Tuesday's shift, uh, or just before Tuesday's shift, uh, when was

the last time you slep and how long and between what hours?

It would've been Tuesday morning from about - I'd say maybe 8:00 or 8:30

am - it's probably about 8:30 am to 2:00 or e- 1400. It's pretty sporadic. I'd

say it's pro- maybe five hours I get during the day.

Okay - okay. Now when I speak of the incident we're talkin'about the

incident, uh, that occurrod on Tuesday the 12th, uh, that occurred at, uh, 21 16

A}lston Way in Apartrnent 514 okay. Uh, did you swtain any injurias during

this incident?

No.

Excuse me. Do you wear corrective eye glasses or contact lenses?

No.

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106 A1: Okay other than that I instuct.her not to answer the question.

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INTERVTEW WITH SCT. (AMBER) PHILLIPSInte.viewer: Sgt. Hong

Page 4

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135 Q: AII right. Starting from your, uh, front belt buckle going clockwise could you

136 describe what duty gear is on your duty belt?t37138 A: Mmm clockwise oh, from my belt buckle I think it's - I've got my keys, uh,

139 department keys. Then I have my firearm. Urn, a keeper with a set ofAA handcuffs attached. Then it's ffiy, *, OC pepper spray. Then i have, uh,

141 handcuffs - case with a pair of handcuffs in the back. Mmm, sorry

142 (unintelligible) over here. Maga- oh flashlight,magazine pouch and ttren just

143 a, uh, key rihg holder whatever that is. Couple keepers in between and that's

144 it.

145

146 Q: Okay. Did your duty belt or dlty gear sustain any damage?

t47148 A: No.

149

150 Q: Okay. Utu what vehicle make and model were you driving dur- driving

151 during Tuesday's shift?

1s2153 A: I wa.s driving, uh, a marked, uh, patuol vehicle nurnber 1745 and ifs a BPD

54 marked patrol vehicle. Marked also with a supervisor so it's a supervisor car.-155 It's a Ford Crown Vic.

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157 Q: Got iL And it has emergency equipment?

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159 A: Mm-hm.

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151 Q: All risht.

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163 A: Emergency lights.

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165 Q: Do you normally drive this particular vehicle?

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167 A: Uh, yeah fairly regularly.

168

169 Q: Ok y. And are you a singig uh, fr, car or are you apaired offrcer car?

170171 A: $ingle.172

173 Q: Okay. Okay so you've, uh, prepared a supplemental report do- documeuting

174 tire, uh incident correct?: ! i

t75t76 A: Correct.

/7-178 Q: And prior to your submission could you just, uh, read it for us please?

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Yeah. on February 13th, 2013 at about 0030 hotus I responded to2216

Allston Way, Apartment 514 because officers were reguesting code tlree

cover. I arrived on scene with Sergeant cardo- (Cardpza) about 0033 hours

and we had both entered the apart e- apartment four - 514 together. When I

entered the apartment I saw Officer (To), Officer (Brown) (unintelligible)

Officer (To) tadge 38, Officer (Brown) nuniber 16, Officer (Gardner) 1?l and

officer (Mathi$ number 80 attempting to reskain an individual on a mattress

ou the floor of the fiving room ar"u. Th" person they were restaining who

was later identified as (Moore) was lying on his stomach with his hands

cuffed behind his back. (Moore) was violently kicking at officers.

Patticularly Offic- Officer (Mathis) who was attempting to 93- garn control of

his feet. Sergeant (Cardoza) deployed the WIAP nesr{f pe1i3.9 anf.t

provided the-ankle strap to Offiier (Mathis) who secured (Moorb)'s ankles'bffi."r, did not attempt to place the leg aud chest pieces of the_WRAP

Restraint Device on (Moore) due to hi.s large size, approxirnatglY 350 plus

pourids. At about 0034 hours I contacted BPD dispatch viaradio and

irq*"t"d that BFD respond to our location with a gurney. I requested the

gUrney,because it Was apparent that offlcers would be unable to move or lift

[f"fo"i"l do hi- due to his targe Size especially since his apartment was on the

fifth floor. Once (Moore) calmed down offtcers rolled himon his-left side and

offi,cer (Brown) confirmid he was breathing and had a pulse.^Although -

although (Moore) was breathing it appeared he rvas having difficulty. t

advisei BPD dispatch that we would also need BFD paramedics because

(Brown) was having difficultybreathing. At around 0041 hours officer

i3**"inoticed tlrt (tvtoo*) \ryas nr longer_breathing pd did nothave a

pJ*. At tlis time I advised BPD dispatch that (Moore) was not breathing

and that offrcers would be starting CPR. Officers immediateiy rernoved the

handcuffs from (Moore). and placed him on his back. ofEcer (To) gave.

(Moore) chest compre$io* until BFD arrived on scene.and took over. oirce

(Uoor"iwas transported to Alta Bates Hospital by BTD Iassisted Sergeant

iC*aoi") in managing the scene and did-the following. Uh, Sergeant car-

tCrrao*i and I diricted Offroer (To) to followBFD -- excuse me -- to AIta

ilut"* ftospital to get an update on (Moore)'s condition. t then directed, uh,

Offi.cer ltriacintostr) to conduct a canvas of the fifth floor or 21 16 Allston

way to determine if any neighbors had contact with (Moore) prior to our

*ira. I directed Officer (Castenmiller) to take a written statement from

(Sterling). I contacted Officer (Smrth) via phone while]re

w-as in the BPD jail

and direited him.to take a written statement from (Haze) and at about 0204

hours Sergeant (Cardoza) took over the scene as being supewisor and I was

released from the scene.

Okay thank you. Okay so, uh, Sergeant Phillips you hear{ a radio broadcast,

uh, ; you ildicate in your police report requesting code three cover. Could

INTERVIEW WITH SGT. (AMBER) PHILLPS' Interviewer: SgL Hong

02-1418:20 pm

Case # 2013-085 l0Page 5

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INTERVIEW WITH SGT, (AMBER) PHILLIPSInterviewer: Sgt. Hong

02-14/8:20pmcase # 2013-08510

Page 6

you tell us, uh, or can you recollect who mad.e that, uh, radio broadcast requestand could you speciry if you can, uh, remember what words were used?

LIh, i- it was offrser (Brown) and she said something to the effect of send usmore cover and I could hear screaming in the background. I didnt hear thewords code three but the radio kaffic seemed a littii bit choppy but t could'hear send us more cover, uh, and then sgeaming which i- whai seemedapparent to me that they werb in need of us- of si- assistance.

okay and you felt that, uh" they were in need of immediate assistance so you,uh, went, uh, responded in a code three fashion conect?

Yes correct.

So we- where were youcoming from?

I came from ttre statioa. I was inside my patol vehicle parked in the south lot.

Okay. And when you arrived, uh, who did you arrive with again?

when I arrived, uh, there were sel,eral police cars there but officer - orsergeant (cardoza) was the one that - we were on scene at the sametime andwe went in the elevator at the same time up to the fifth floor.

uh, was the front door already, uh, the main door on the ground floor was italready open or unlocked...

Yeah.

...in order for you to gain entry?

Mm'hm the main door - someone had stuck - I don't know if it was a bench orsome - some sortof object in the doorway so it was open for us to get in. v

Okay. And you took'- it was just the two of you? You and Sergeant(Cardoza) went upstairs?

Yeah, uh, we took the elevator.

f'm sony, you took the elevator up,..

Yeah.

...to tlre fifth floor to Apartment 514?

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TNTERVIEW WITH SGT' (AMBER) PHILLPSIn"**ffi:;1ff;#11,i

Case # 2013-08510

PageT

Mm-hm.

Okay. When you arrived at Apartrn ent 5L4 before, uh, looking inside, uh,

what was the general description of your sunoundings?

So when you go - when you go in, uh, wtren I ca- when we came in off the

eleyator I immediately saw a black male standing on the comer like a couple

doors doWn from -, from the apartment. I figured he was either qomebody that

knew or he was a neighbor that was just waiting. I just - I just happened to

notice'cause he seemed to be the ouly one really standing by just not moving.

Uh, and it - it - ifs a - it's like a - shaped like square on the inside b-ut it's got a

I - the lob- I don't know what the lobby or whatever you call it in the middle.

So it's five fl'five levels,,um, almost like tiers of aparbnent - aparhnents that

are all on in a circular or kind of sunounding. Um, I didn't see - I didn't notice

really anybody else. I didn't see any other offtcers and so I knew - I could see

that the door was open oflce I carne out of the elevator that the front door was,

tr, w- that was the only door that looked open to me. So I assrmred that was

the aparfinent

Okay. So there was no other officers on the landing (unintelligible)...

Not that I recall no.

Okay. So you - you see an open door to the aparfinent and when you first

look in what is your first observation you see?

Right when you fust walk in, I look in and I can see immediately, uh, I see -

now I recall it's, uh, I believe five officers and there's 4 uh, I didn't know at

the time male or female but a, uh, a - a black person, um, that was laying on

their stomach in handcuffs - trvo sets of handcuffs that I recar- uh recall and,

uh, there were officers holding like his extremities. Like arms,legs, um, and

the person was kicking and I remember that (Mathis) - Ofhcer (Mathis) was

the one by tlre feet and the person was kicking the fbet and he, you know, um,

and I remember someone saylng get a spit mask, uh with a m- we werc a-

they were askin'about the WRAP and we were like we have the WRAP. Uh,

Sergeant (Cardoza) had - said he had grabbedthe WRAP out of my cal so

when we - we anived we had it with us and we stalted to take the WRAP out

ofthe, uh, the bag.

okay. And (unintelligible), uh, real briefly so when you - upon entering you

Yeah.,t'

''' .:

Was he on the ground or any - or was - where - where was he lyrng o,

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lnterviewefl Sgt. Hong

02-L4E:20pm

Case # 2013-08J10

Page 8

313

314 A: They were, uh, there was Iike - it looked like fwo probably futon matlresses.315 Um, I don't know what else you'd call 'em but they werenrt standard matEesses

31,6 but they were on the floor of the living room area. It's a very - a small

317 aparrnent where it was like a living room kitchen area, um, and the person

318 was on the mattress and all of the officers were as well.

319

320 Q: Okay. And you said he was already handcuffed when you arrived?

321

322 A: Yeah.

323

324 Q: Okay. And you describe, uh, officers, uh, holding down this person by

325 holding down their, uh, ex- uh, arms and legs?

326327 A: Yeah.

328

329 Q: Did you see any of these officers holding this person down by holding down

330 their head, neck, chest area or stomach area?

331

^12 A: No I specifically remember - what I did remember was that Offiqer (Brown)

-J3 was closest to the head and that i- I couldn't see anybody applying any for-

334 you know, pressure or anything to the head but I rememberthat she was

335 closest to the head and the other . the larger male officers rvere holding down

336 - tryin'to hold down the body. Um, arms and legs and the...

5Jt338 Q: Okuy.

339

340 A: ...legs were the - and him kicking was the problem.

341

343 portion of the body, do you recall which officers they were?

344345 A: Iknow,um, Officer(To) Ibelieve\ryasontheothersidea- s- I-I-Ido346 believe he was on the upper body area. I think Officer (Smith) as well and I

347 believe Officer (Gardned and Officer (Mathis) were the two tryin' to - or near

348the legs at the bottom half of the body.

349

350 Q: Okay. Now yQu're saying that this person, uh, was kicking?

351

352 A: Yeah.

353

354 Q: All right. And you're talking kickiug, slashing, uh, uh, at the officers is that...

\5

-i6 A: Yeah.'

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INTERVIEW WITH SGT. (AMBER} PHILLIPS

"**''H1;rt;#;HCase# 2013-08510

...correct? okay, And you said offrcer (Mathis) - what was officer (Mathis)doin'again?

He was tryrng to hold dovrn the legs and I remember the, uh, the subject waskicking and he yelled, "Give me the ankle" - we were takin'the wRAp outand he says, "Give me the a- we need to - we need to secure the ankles.,, Andso I handed him the arikle ttring and he rwapped the - his arkles and thatobviously stopped the kicking,

oh good. okay so the a- uh, the thing you're refening to is a shap that is partof ttre WRAP Device correct?

Right correct.

And - and he - and of,Ecer (Mathis) used that ro restrain the - what pafi af theIegs ofthe - the subject?

Just the - both ankles, ffii; had the'I believe the ankles were crossed and heused the - the device to - used the velcro and - and - and - and restrain him.

Before we go further can you best of your recollection describe this person?il[saning height, weight, stature etcetera.

From what I could tell and I - again I could.n-t tell if it 1ryas a male or femalebecause I could te- I could see that there appeared to be long braids. um, andI remember asking

officer(Brown)

is it a male or a femalE? The body type,.

um, it - it was - I could tEll it was a b- a person that was African Americau,black Um, and the person looked - they probably weighed I would saysomewhere between 350 - 380 pounds. um; and from the body type and fromthe back - and the person was nude. Um, I - ttrere might,ve been a piece ofclothing close to the ankle area; um, but for the most part the whole back area

and the - and the - and the butt area was exposed andi could see that there -

the - that he was nude. um, and I asked officer (Brown) i- is - is it male orfemale. I know that wasn't : for me it was in rny mind. It's just - I don't knowwho we're dealing with and - or what we're dealing with and if it is femalethere's other, you know, factors that could be at play. so I asked and then she

told me it's a male but it was a, uh, pre-op transgender or transsexual or

somethin' like that and I said okay. And that's when I - I recognizecl who - Iknew who it was. I knew exactly who it was.

Okay. Now, uh, while you're observing the officers tryin'to keep, uh,l\rlr.(Moore) - we're gonna refer to...

Yeah.

A:

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INTERVIEW WITH SGT, (AMBER) PHILLIPS

""*oH:i;ff;#fficose# rr,l&til3

..,this person as Mr. (Moore). His name is (Xavier Moore).

Right.

While the officers are tryin'to keep him conholied, uh, did you at - did you

feel that the officers had control or they were having a diflicult time with Mr.

(Moore)?

In the beginning they were having difficulty, uh, a lot of difficulty. And then

once, uh, Officer (Mathis) put the ankle resfraints on, um, he slowly started to

calm down. Thelz were asking for a spit mask and I was tryin' to put it out on

the radio to make sure that we got that. Urn, I didn't notice ifhe was spitting

or not. I just know they were sayrng get us a spit rnask s- and I was - got on

the radio and said next person up needs to bring us a spit mask. Um, so Ifigured he - I - they were still actively stuggliug and then, um, it seemed like

maybe a minute or so - two and, uh, Mr. (Moore) just, uh, stopped - slowly

stopped resisting. You know, it - it just seemed like he just started to caLn

down and just lay there.

okay. so between the time that, uh, the ankle, uh, resfiaints were placed on

him and there's a minute timeframe where he slowly started to calm do1n -

just prior to that, between the time you entered to the prior time - to just prior

io ti* cakning down, was he saying anything? Was he screaming anything

do you recall?

I don't recall there being screarning or - or - or, uh, yelling at that point. Um, I

remember officers saying like stop move - stop resisting, stop moving kinda

thing. Uh, he was movin'around and they were just - th.{ co- they were

having a hard time contolling him and everyone tried to figure out where to

go with the large indi- naked individual. You know, itwas - it was - they

were definitelystnrggling. I can't leme- I don't recall screaming - him

screaming or saying anything, umn at that point.

Okay. ,

At the time I was...

Was it apparent at that point that he was breathing?

...yes.

Okay. Utr, during that period of time was he complaining ofpain.of any sort

or utking for a anrbulance or saying he couldn't breath or verbalizing in any

way that he was having physical problems?

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INTERVTEW WITH SGT. (AMBER) PHILLPS

Intewiewer: S$. Hong

"*#;'r'1ii3i'Tage I I

No not - not at any time when I was there did he ever' I,ike I said say

anything, ask for help, say he couldn't breath, say that anybody was on his

.back or anything like that. He nev- that never came out

Okay.

And, you know, we have that happen all ttre time andnothing - he never said

any of that.

Uh, and then he, uh, slowly started calming down now yousaid and once he

did - he eventually did calm down?

Mm-hm.

Okay. And once, uh, he's now ca- um, calmed down, ufr, w- what happened

now as - as he's now calm?

Once he calms down i- it's - I - at some point I think Officer (Castenmiller)

came in - other officers - it was like - it was - it was obvious that no - we no

longer needed five offrcers I think. I don't know how the decision was inade

but-I know Offrcer (To) I re- I - I saw that he was sweating and appeared to

be, you know, kind ofout ofbreath and I - he asked - he said, "Do you guys

havi itt Is it okay if, you know, can I just take a break for a second?' And I

said go outside.

Nftn-hm.

Um, take a breath. I couldn't tell - I, you know, was worried about him being

injured or, you know, just - he seemed exhausted. So I sent him outside. Um,

*a t . 'cause I knew at that point I believe Offrcer (Castenmiller) was there

but he wasn't the, uh, Ivfr. Miller w- Moore, e[cuse me, was.no longer

fighting So it was just kind of - offi.cers were sitting there withthe hands on

triLsuit in case. Um, but tliere really wasn't any, uh, an$hing, you know,

there wasn't any resisting going on. And then at some point o- officer

(Gardner) and (Mathis) I believe leave, um, aud I think Officer - Offiaer (Io) I

know for sure comes back and I remember that's when, 14, (Gwen) or Officer

(Broram) says, you know, looks over and like is he breathing? And I look and

i said ishe breathing s* [ mean is his chest moving? Um, he was laying on his

left side at this point and the officers againwere just waiting - we were waitin'

for BFD the whole time. IIh...

Uh, when he was calmed down he was just laying there and you guys were

On his left s...300

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Interviewer: Sgt. Hong

02-1418:20 pm

Case # 20 13-085 I 0' Page 12

...holding or just placing your hands and holding him...

...mm-hnr.

..,still? At - was there any officer sitting or laying on top of or pushing dorvn

on the parts of Mr. (Moore)'s head and neck, chest, stomach or any of those

areas ofthe body?

No.

Okay.

And in fact I could see his fa- profile now, You know, he was layrngcompleting on his left side- Offrcer.(Brown) was near his head and I could

see, you know, see his face and I knew I recognized him- Um, and that was,

you know, we were just waiting. It was just waiting and no one was applyrng

any pressure

Okay. So wa- when you looked to see if he was breathing he was at that point

still breafhing corect? When...

Yeah so - yeah so Offioer (Brown) like I said, you know,looks and says a- is

he breathing? And I look over and, uh, she says (Xavier), You know, uh, then

she kinda shakes him and at that point I see his chest moveand

I- he t- he -

trloves his head and he looks u- like he opened his eyes 'cause I think his eyes

were closed before that. LIh, and so then I go- I said he's breathing md, uh, I'd

say maybe less thdn a minute is when he stopped breathing but I - the radio

traffi.c went out, uh, BF- or dispatch says - asks me, "Do you just need a

gurney or you need medical?" And I said, uh, we're goirna need medical'

He's - he's having difficulty brea&ing.

Okay. tnitiaily you asked just for a gumey?

r did.

Okay all right.

I said code three but my - my reasoning behirul that was, um, one? I - there

was no way rrye wero gonna be able to move him; uh, two, I waflted

paramedics there in case something went wrong because we w€re dealing with

a - * v- we weren't - w- the officers weren't gonna be able to piOk him. We're

on the fifth floor - an apailment and [ figured if there was ary medical

attentibn needed, the fire department would be there. Unr, and that, you

know, the gumey was gorura be the only safe way to gst a- to get him out of

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INTERVIEW WITH SGT. (AMBER) PHILLiPSIntervicwer: Sgt. Hong

c-#;fl5:3tTPage 13

538 there. Um, so I also made the asstlmption that no matter what BFD was come

539 . - was - was gonna come with medical. So I didn't thirk that that question,

54A you know what - I didn't know that they were gonna ask me that question. I541 assumed they were gonna come code tlree like I requested, wn, and tlrat

542 would include, uh, an ambulance and an engine, um...

543

544 Q: Okay. So wa- but when you, uh who first noticedhim - that Mr. (Moore)

545 stopped breathing do yourecall?

546

547 A: Ithink itwas Officer iBrown),s48

549 Q: Okay.

s50

551 A: Or w- when he stopped.breathing?552

553 Q: Whenhe stopped breathing.

554

555 A: Yeah it was - it was - it had happened really quickly &or:r the time he was

556 breathing to not breathing. I - she might've said it and I know that at some- 57 point I said I don't think he's breathing. So somewhere in between 30 seconds

to a minute, uh, boih of us noticed that...

5s9

560 Q: O...

s61

562 A:...and...

563

564 Q: ..okay.

565

566 A: ...she started, you know, yelling his name and, uh, you know, we tried to roll

SG7 him o- I was like take offthe handcuffs and they rolled him on his back.

568

569 Q: Okay so - and then when you - when you noticed that he wastr't breathing was

57A it you that made that ra- radio broadcast for emergency medical because - and

STL you verbalize on the tadio that no longer was this person breatlring?

572

573 A: I said, u[ subject is no longer - is - subject is not breathing. I don't know if I -

574 i don't think I said he didnt have a pulse. I think I said s- subject is not575 breathing.

'We'restarting CPR.

576

577 Q: Got it okaY.

s78

579 A: Uh...

'0Q: And - and you order officers to remove the handcuffs?

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Itrterviewerr Sgt. Hong02-14/8:20 pm

Case # 2013-08510

Page 14

Yeah.

Okay. Uh, then did that occur?

Yeah.,l

Okay.

They took'em off right away.

All right andonce the handcuffs were removed what' what did you do -

positioning of Mr. (l\4oore) at that point?

They, uh, tolled him completely on his back and, uh, Offtcer (Brown) wasbyhis head. Officer (To) irirmediately started chest compressions and then, uh,

officer (castenmiller) was, um, I tbink on the - toward - by the bottom half

kinda by his tegs just, you know, standing by because I asked, uh, I had asked

(To) - he stafed swe- you know, it - it was a lot of work for him aud then I

rrid ao you neod to switch out? And I was askin'him if he needed him to - to

(CastennoiUer) to switch out and he just continued rmtil, uh, BFD arrived. So

they never switched but (castenmiller) was there just providhg, you know,

support in case he needed to...

Okay. Um, uh,,so eveutrally paramedics came?

Mm-hm.

Okay. And, uh, just briefly describe - they came in and they worked on Mr.

(Moore) cortect?

Yeatr so they cr they c- they came in, um, officers, you know, were told to -

to get out - it's u really small space and so they all - tlrey alt came out. I think,

um] probably Officer(Brown)'aad I end maybe Officer (To) were still inthere

and they were askin' questions about name and - and - and medical history and

we were tryin' to give 'em"*

much information as we could. They started, ul1,

they put &at ihest"oorpression

machine on him right away and they started

ha*ng that manually do, uh, chest compressions. Um, then we were nyin'togive as much information as possible and, um, letting them know that we b-

we knew tlrat he had a drug hirtoty. I-J11, 'cause they were asking us is he

under the irflUeirce of dnrgs or alcohol? I didn't - atthe time dida't knowif

anything - if he was under the influence of alcohol at all but I told them that

he hasB_1{*g-his!-o.Iy:pfr,uh;-dni'$:'ds6otiiliisEOlriiu:.-ct"afk ' I virent outside and

I taked io'ifie.griythat was, uh that was his friend. He saiil he was his

caretakrir. And h" told me thut hr, um,,usssrntdth'-hE"usEs'*i6roiill+mo"kes

w.eed ii,ird'dliitlrserlaohol and that he usually drixlcstiu'aregular'.basis::"And so

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TNTERVIEW WITH SGT, (AMBER) PHILLPS

"'-*'"ti]ii,T;#"#Case # 2013-08510

Page 15

I went back - ran back and told BFD - BFD that. And then I helped them, you

know, they took everything basically almost - all the mattresses and

everything out of the living room, put that in the bathroom area 'cause they

didn't have enough space to work.

Okay. Where d- where were those mattresses in relatiotr.'.

Th,..

...to the apartment how it's set uP?

...so when you walk directiy in, there's a bathroom on the teft. And to the left

there's a tittle hali closet to the left as well, next to the bathroom, And you

walk - when you walk straight, um, right down that hallway the - themathesses were right on the floor and it would be a c- a - it 1as

across from

.the kitchen area, um, and they were in the comer. And tiren there was like a

little bedroom behind I guess that living area. Um, I didn't notice if thqre's - it

was open but I don't know if there's a door or not. But it was just 'they were

laying on the - the mathesses WerB laying on th.e corner, uh, on the floor in the

comer.

Okay. And, urn, uh, eventually the paramedics leave Inith Mr. (Moore)'..

Mm-hm.

...as they're working wi- on him? Okay. Once the paramedics are leaving was

therg anofEt"t uttiptd to, uho e': to ascomPany the paramedics?

N- uh, not right away and then, uh, sergeant (cardoza) was - spoke to officer

(Brown) *d Offi..t (To) and was like, you know, tryin' to determine who

was handling the case and Officer (Brown) said itwas her.case. So then he

told Officer (To; you, - you go - somebody needed to go with the ambulance.

So Offrcer (To) was sent with the anrbulance and Officer (Brown) I believe

was sent 1019. Came back to the station to write a report'

Okay. So I'11 ask this at this point, who - who has been - who was desigrrated

- upon your e- your arrival and offie€r - or sergeant (cardoza)'s arrivaltogether, uh, who assumed Sceae supervising, uh, uh, role?

That wasn't assumed until after BFD had taken - tra- transported, uh, Mr.

(Moore).

Mm-hm.

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And Sergearrt (Cardoza) seemed the role as - assumed supervisor when, uh,

Offrcer (Brown) was assigned as the handling officer,

. Okay. So Officer ffo) is now accompanying the fire paramedics to thehospital?

Yeah.

Okay all right. So once, uh, the paramedics have taken Mr. (Moore), uh, whatwas your role, uh, while you were there with, uh, with Sergeant (Cardoza)?

I, uh, just assisted. I - I - I knew that it was gonna be important for us to startgetting statements ftom people and there were a lo- therc were a iot ofneighbors that had come out during the whole inlident. So, um, Officer ma-

(Mathis) was talkin'to a couple of them. I immediately assigned Offrcer(Castenmiller) tg, uh, get a witten stateme,nt from the, uh,'caretaker. I can't

temember what his name is. Uh, (Sterling) - last...

Conect,

...ffrme (Sterling).

Conect.

Um, I said I need you to get a written statement lrom him and we need to get,

you know, just go over his medical history 'cause he was saying he was thecaretaker and - and get some information. So he - he took a written statement

from him on scene. Then I - I requested another officer to the scene to - to

help with the canvas and that was Officer (Macintosh) and I directed him to

knock on every door on the fifth floorthat Officer (Mathis) hadn't already

done and just check and see if anybody had anyprior contacts, um, withIvIr.(Moore) before we arrived on scere or if theyknew anything about him

basically. Um, and then when I went outside with Sergeant (Cardoza) and

Sergeant (Ross) I told ser- car- Sergeant (Cardoza) that, um, I wanted

somebody to swap out with Officer (To). I didnt ttiink that he should be at

the hospital. And so I to- I volunteered to go to the hospital just to get Officer(To) back but he s- Sergeant (Cardoza) said he'd go to the hospital and he'd

send Officer (To) back to the station to meet with me 'cause I just wanted to

talk to him and check in wittr him.

Okay. So after that you - you simply, uh, you went back to the station?

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A:361 Q: Okay. Uh, couple questions I - I neglected to ask is when - when you received

a code three of, uh, assistance, uh, request on the radio and you were going to2116 Allston, did youknow what the call was all about?

A: I-Ididn'timmediately. Unr, I-Ididn't-I-Iheardthe4l5 comeoutbutl

didn't put it together right away uutil I l- I looked at the call as I was goingand it just said, uh, 415, um, andl$ftS.0: So in my mind as I was going I was

assuming they were s- they were skuggling with a5.L5-0i Urn, didn't have any

idea of the person or the w- you know, the weight or sta- any of that - none ofthat was - came out or was relevant because I got there pretty quick. I'd say

lessthanaminute. Um, butl -I as- Isawthat it*usu"rlland^I sawttreinitial comments of the call w.ag{,Et1fvf,i-s4,5:f5CItt,,I think offhis medication

or something like that.

Okay. And when you arrived aod, uh, the - IvIr, (Moore) was ha- in handcuffs,

did you know at that point why Mr. (Moore) was in handcuffs?

No I didn't. Um, I had no idea ye- I didn't know if he was under anest or if itwas ri3:15.0"11 I had no idea at that point. I didnt find out until after I think Iasked Officer (Brcwn). Um, I believe once BFD was on the sceue I asked her,

uh, what was - what was this about? Aod she said he had a $10,000 wanant.

Okay. So to your knowledge it was because he had a warant?

TNTERVIEW WITH SOT, (AMBER) PHILLIPS*,.*oH:iiff;#"#

Case * ZOt:r+tSf

!

okay. Do you recall when f}re notification of, uh, time of deattr was for Mr-(Moore) at the hospital? Do you recall who made the notification and hoddyou find out?

Officer (To) called me while I was still outside of the apartment buildiqg, um,and said that the doctor at Alta Bates - and I don't know the doctor's name --had called the time of death at0l34 hours. And I asked him if he was on'hisway back. I said are you, you know, to come back and he said he was on hisway.

Okay. Was a technician called at any point (unintelligible)?

Yeah Sergeant (Cardoza) had called a ID tegb uh, I think right after BFD had

Ieft sometime and - some - some - at some point he had catled the tD tech. Ididn't - I didnt do that

butyeah the

ID tectr-did showup while we were stillthere.

Okay. Do you recall if a tech was sent to the hospital at all?

No I don't - notto my knowledge.

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lnterviewer: Sgt. Hong

,*!i,,13,._1it#

Yeah that they were tryin'to wrestle in the wanant.

Okay all right. Okay in your, uh, brief obsenration of Mr. (Moore) can youdescribe at all what you were, uh, ulL for instance, uh, do - did you believejust based on your brief observatiou of Mr. (IvIoore) do you - did you believe

that he r,{a$, uh, under the inlluence of any s- of auything?

I couldn't tell. I di- again I didn't get enongh, u[ I wasn't close enough to,

you know, to smell alcohol.

Mm-hm'

And, ur4 by the time - like said, by the time we werethere th- fre - the yelliug

and screaming - so there wasn't like any going - or statements goiag on so Ididtr't - I didn't really hear much coming from him. Um, an{, uh, the o- by the

time I saw, you know, was able to see his - his full face was when the

difficrrlty breathing had strted. So I d- there was really no other way to

assess him or his...

Okay. An4 um, during your briet uh, dpring the time upon when you arrived

and the time that you rnade all your observations, um, did you at all ' first ofall, did you at all touch Mr. (Moore)?

LIh, I did when BFD was giving him - doing - when they took over, t said to

them his ankles are reskained. Do you need me (uninte[igible) do you want

to take the restaints offi

I/tn-hm.

And they just said yes. And so I rau over and uh, I asked. Offrcer

(Castenmiller) to help me out because I had houble picking up his legs by

myself aod taking the resfraiht off. So I ended up taking t}e restraint offwhile

a- Officer (Castenmiller) was holding his legs for me.

Okay that was the extent of any time you placed your harrds on Mr. (Moore)?

Y- y- yeah.

O- okay. Uh, during the time that we- uh, immediately after you arrived

during ttre time to the point wtrere he was - Mr. (Moore) was takeuto the

hospital, did you at all at any time see any offrcet, uh, on scene, uh, strike Mr.

(Moorg) with a open hand or closed fist?

No not.:.

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307



INTERVIEW WITH SGT. (AMBER) PHILUPS

lnteryiewer; SgI. Hong

02-14/8:20 PmCas6# 2013-08510

page I 9

806 Q; Did you...

807

808 A: ...4t all.809

810 Q: ..,did you Bt all see any officer kick Mr. (Moore) in any way?

811

812 L: No.

813

8t4 Q: Did an- did you see any officer deploy their OC and use it on Mr. (Moore)?

815

816 A: No

817

818 Q: Did you at aay point see any officer use their (unintelligible) baton or ary

SI9 other blunt object, uh, on Mr. (Moore)?820

821 A: No.

822823 Q: Okay. Did any, uh, ofEcer discharge a fnearm?

824

825 A: No.

5

Q: Did any o- offic,er use a firearm as a blunt object?

28

29 A: No.

Q: Okay. Um,uh,intennsofaniviugofEcersonsoenewasyourselfand832 Sergeant (Cardoza), was there *y oth"r ranking officer on scene?

A: Sergeant (Ross) was on scene, IFO department. Uh, to'my knowledge he

never came up to the fiffh floor and never came inside. I never saw him

inside. He was just in frontof the aparftnent building. He - he initially

answered up on the radio fi$t asth€ "as - ai, the supervisorrmil

Q: Mm-hm.

A: Um, but Sergeant (Cardoza) and I were the first w- we beat him to the s- we

were there fust.

Q: Okay. Who are the - whq - who are the, uh, supervisors working during that -

during the time of that incidetrt, whicfu t*r, sergeant rank officers were

workingwithyou?

Sergeant, uh, from team threE it was Sergeant (Ross) dnd Sergeant (Cardoza).

) And then from team four it was myself and Sergeant Huynh, uh, 5-26,

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INTERVIE* wrrH scrilt#3i:ll?i #J;

02-1418:20pm

Case # 20t 3-085 I 0page20

Okay. Huynh is H-U-Y-N-H-? Okay. And ulL was - okay otherthanyourself, sergeant (cwdoza) and sergeant (Ross) who wasdownstairs andnever entered &e aparnnent, was there any other, ulr, rank officer on scene,

um, higher than you?

Not that I recall no.

Okay. Um, you said ttrat you had prior - when you - when you saw Mr.(Moore) you recognized him.

Yeah.

Can you briefly -.can you tell us how you recognize him and why?

Yeah, um, I believe - I - I don't know how long ago. It was probably lessthanayetr ago,,I, uh, responded to a pali with - I know it was Officer (Fleming),

OfEcer (To) and there might've been one or two other officers but, uh, we gota call from Mr. (Moore)'s father somewhere on beat 13. Might be like 66thSheet or so- I can't - I can't recall the address but I know it vras a beat 13.

An4 um, Mr. (Moore)'s father was callirg saying that his son, uh, uh, was -was acting up and he wanted fu<ll61$?.fliiiirZf,m, whenl loton scene I - Ishowed rrp as the scene supervisor. I wasn't requested. I had just - [ showed

up at the call to see if - bause they - I noticed officer had been there forawhile, to see if they needed any help. And when I got there, uh, officerswere speaking with, utU litr. (Moore)'s father q/ho was adsmant about us

taking him for a[5d5.0;egaJustion because he was upset. He was * he said his

son was drunk and using drugs and he didn't want him at his house anymore.And I spent a lot of time explaining to, uh, his &tler that, you know, udess -we would do the evaluation but unless he fits the criteriawe can't just forcehim to go on ArSl-[Q1rSo dad was - he was kind of upset with that. Um, but Ithen made contact witll I\,Ir. (Moore) inside the house and when I di4 he - Iwant to say he ' he - well he called me (Michelle). I don't know if he ttroughtI was, uh, another, you know, a former police sergeant or not but he keptcalling me by the nasre (Michelle) and he was like I remember you. Do you

remember me? And I di- tom my knowledge I couldn't rememher that I'dever had conlact wi& him before. [Ih, and so we talked. I - I spent probably Iwant to say close to 45 minutes talking to Mr. (Moore) and it got to a poiut or

him finally agreeing to go to the hospital. IJm, we were - I think we ehded updoing a voluutary-5ffiQ) I'm not sure if we filled out the green sheet but it wasa - I - basically he ended up agreeing to go. And it took m- I spent 45 minutes

trying to - to talk to him and (unintelligible) that he needed to go. Um, before

he went to the hospital, you know, I asked hin - I could tell he had been under

the influence of alcohol. When he got up, um, to - I went to search him. Ilocated - I ftink at least fluee empty bottles of uh, vodka - fifth - a fifth of v-vodka bqttles hidden in ttre couch, undemeath the couch. Ulr, one was hidden

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INTERVIEW WITH SGT, (AMBER) PHILLIPS

,"*"ffi:i;,tl,H"#

Case # 2013-08i10

Page 2l

in his bag that was with him. And I also located two - I believe one or two

crack pipes in his bag, um, before he left. And so he admiued to me at that

time that he had been drinking alcohol but he didn't - he told me he hadn'tsmoked crack, uh, that day. So the dad had, you know, had told us . debriefed

us that he has, you know, an-lssue=rmith-atreohol'.an&drrrys and that it's an

ongoing everyday, uh, struggle and, you know, so we had that whole

conversation, So we spetrt a lot of time with the family aad mom showed up

later and ultimately it - it ended peacefully and he enrled up goit'to the

hospital, Uh but I - I - I specffically remember him because he looks like a -

L - a - awofiran. He has, you know, braids in hair and he was dressed like a

w+. in woman's clothing- Um, but that his nalnq was (Xavier) and I'm pr€tty

s.ure he goes by the name (Xavier). I cant - I can't remember. But it was...

That was the one tirne-..

Thatwas...

...then?

...the one time yeah.

Okay. And - and did you know at the, ub, when you walked in did you - when

yourecognize him - you reco- you remembered he was - he had these, uh,

mental health issues...

Yeah.

...on tlre scene? Okay all right. LIIL uh, do you have anydring?

(Amber) when you first came in and you describe that you saw him face

down, uh, on the bed and he's still resisting, do you re,lnember t}e position that

his face was ia in relation tp the bed?

I couldntt see his face because there were so - there were so maay officers but

it was - he was - he was on his stomach. I can't say that his face was like in

thp mathrcss or anything. I could see,that his hair - i' i- it's possible his face

was turned to the side, um, and that officers were just tryihg to hold hitrt. I - I- I do - I remember someone asking for the spit rrrisk and thinking is he

spitting? So I remember knowing that his - I don't think they had control -

*lat nis fa- you know what I mean? They dida't have him face down because

I remember thinking they're trying to keep him from spitting at people. Um,

but I couldn't see it enough to tell you specifically. Like I di&l get a profile

view or anything because, gh, there just were too many officers and his hair

was everywhere and I cou[dn't see.

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iaterviewer: Sgt. Hong

02-1418:20 pm

Case# 2013-08510

Page 22

941, Ql: Okay. And then once he was on his side...

942943 A: Mm-hm.

944

945 Q1: ...could you see his face?

946

947 A: Yeah.

948

949 Ql: Okay.

9s0

951 A: I saw his profiIe.

952

953 Ql: It was elear?

954955 A: It was clear.

9s6957 Ql: Okay.

9s8

959 A:

^{0Yeah.

-;1 . Ql: tlh, and then you - you'd mentioned that you called for BFD initially for the

962

963.964 A:

965966 Ql: But then you'd also added something about - and you also knew in addition

that, you know, by default gonna be paramedics thffe too. Was that - do you

have aconcern about him medically at that point? Did you see something that

worried you or was it just - it's nice to have that extra added..'

I - I yeah I re- t just flgured, tlm, w- given, you know, his size and condition

and thaf heis been fighting with officers that th- there would be a potential

concer- health con6em. Um, I didn't know anything about alcohol or drugs ifthat was a factor at - at dll. I just was given a situation that it ta- it's gonna

take five officers to restrain him that tllore was, you know, that there was a

potential for - for him to be, you know; a- overly excited and, you know, and I

was just - would feel relieved if - having the paramedics there in case he

needed any sort of rnedical help. Um, and I requested - when I requested

them even though I'd asked for the gurney, I said code three because I wanted

them there immediately. One, to [ry and prevent officers from gening i4iured'

and frorn the subject from getting injured. So that was the assumption I made

that they were coming code three and they were - they wele coming firlly

equipped to handle any'sort of medical situation if - if need be'

311

gumey.

Mm-hm.

967

968

969

974

971 A:

972

973

974

975

976

977

978

979

980

981

982-13

-o4985 Ql: Thankyou.



TNTERVTEW WITH SCT. (AMBER) PHTLLTPS

Interviewer: Sgt. Hongoz't11Y:7o pi

Case # 201348510

Page23

986

987 A.1; I don't have any questions.

988g8g Q: You have anything else you want to add that we may want to (udntelligible)99A may be good for us to know?

991

992 A: No I thinkthat's it. I covered it.993

ee4 Q:995

996997

998 This tanscript has been reviewed with the audio recording submitted and it is an accur4te

999 transcription.

SigIIe{

This is the end of the interview sdth Sergeant (Ambefl Phillips. It is 2102

hours.

In-Custody Death Investigation - Xavier Moore (Part 10 of 11). Interview with Sergeant Amber...

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