The family of a 72-year-old woman filed a legal claim against a police department in the San Francisco Bay Area, alleging that a violent arrest that led to the elderly woman’s death was later covered up by law enforcement.
The wrongful death complaint, cited by KTVU, includes details of the Sept. 26 arrest of 72-year-old Yolanda Ramirez in Brentwood, California.
The claim alleges that Brentwood officers were called to Ramirez’s brother’s home after Ramirez arrived to take her brother to a medical appointment. When no one answered the door, Ramirez began yelling from outside the home to get her brother’s attention.
When law enforcement arrived, multiple witnesses saw a male officer handcuff Ramirez and “grab her violently,” according to the claim.
“The male officer forced the elder to her knees on the sidewalk and continued to falsely accuse her of resisting, while she cried out in pain multiple times, catching the attention of several local residents and passersby,” the complaint states. “Mrs. Ramirez was loudly telling the officers that she was not resisting and alerting them that they were hurting her.”
Ramirez was allegedly “handcuffed so tightly she had deep cuts on her wrists.”
Witnesses also reportedly saw the moment the officer escorted Ramirez to the patrol car. According to the complaint, they saw the cop “violently strike Mrs. Ramirez’s head on the window of a patrol car,” before he and his partner dragged her into the backseat of the police cruiser.
The officers allegedly left Ramirez in the back of the car unattended for 10 minutes as they searched her car and purse, then called a tow truck to remove her vehicle.
After one cop went to check on her, he reconvened with other officers and called an ambulance.
Witnesses state they saw first responders carry Ramirez — who appeared unconscious and was reportedly covered in vomit — out of the car once emergency medical teams arrived at the scene.
The claim states that Ramirez “suffered a brain bleed due to the abuse by Brentwood Police Officers,” and had to undergo emergency brain surgery.
Attorneys for Ramirez’s family accused law enforcement of failing to inform paramedics that she suffered a head injury during her detainment, “thereby obstructing and delaying her medical diagnosis.”
Ramirez did not recover from her injuries and was taken off life support on Oct. 3.
The complaint states that her family reached out to the Brentwood Police Department to receive information about Ramirez’s detainment, but the police agency has yet to respond to their inquiries.
The complaint also states that “at least six third party witnesses observed the incident and were outraged by the brutality they witnessed against a visibly elderly woman.”
None of those witnesses was ever interviewed by police, according to the claim. It was only when Ramirez’s family reportedly hired private investigators to interview eyewitnesses that they learned what happened, Mercury News reported.
“I should not have to hire private investigators just to get the family a basic understanding of what happened to Mrs. Ramirez,” Melissa Nold, the family’s attorney, said in a written statement. “She deserved to be treated with dignity, respect and care and the department profoundly failed her in all of those aspects.”
Shortly after news surfaced about Ramirez’s death and the wrongful death claim her family filed, the Brentwood Police Department released a statement on Facebook about what happened.
The department’s account contradicts the version of events documented in the Ramirez family’s claim, including the medical emergency Ramirez suffered while in police custody:
On Friday, September 26, 2025 at around 11:00 a.m., Brentwood Police officers responded to a call involving a family dispute, during which Ms. Ramirez, approximately 70 years old, was placed under a citizen’s arrest at the request of a family member. When officers arrived, Ms. Ramirez attempted to flee the scene.
Officers detained Ms. Ramirez, and after being secured in a patrol vehicle, officers noticed she appeared to be having a medical issue, and they immediately contacted medical personnel. Ms. Ramirez was promptly released from police custody and transported by medical personnel to a local hospital.
Several days later, the Police Department was notified that Ms. Ramirez was still hospitalized, her condition had worsened, and that she was not expected to survive. In accordance with Contra Costa County Law Enforcement Involved Fatal Incident Protocol, the Brentwood Police Department immediately notified the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office, and their agency initiated an independent investigation into the incident.
The agency also stated that the City of Brentwood will release police bodycam and dashcam footage showing what occurred during the arrest.
The investigation launched by the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office is still ongoing and will determine whether any individuals involved in the incident are criminally liable, per the Law Enforcement Involved Fatal Incidents Protocol (LEIFI).
The claim accuses the city of Brentwood of wrongful death, elder abuse, assault, battery, negligence, among other allegations.
The police department did not comment on the family’s legal claim.
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