Ukiah Police Department Officers Caught On Tape Tasing, Pepper-Spraying, and Punching a Naked, Mentally Ill Man

Ukiah Police Department Officers Caught On Tape Tasing, Pepper-Spraying, and Punching a Naked, Mentally Ill Man ***WARNING: The video is difficult to watch and portrays police use of force*** Video footage of Ukiah Police Department officers pepper-spraying, tasing, and hitting a naked man with closed fists has drawn community ire with many seeing the officers’ use of force as excessive. According to reporting by Justine Fredrickson of the Ukiah Daily Journal, officers were dispatched to the 1400 block of South State Street in response to reports of a naked man walking in the road. Officers found Ukiah man Gerardo Magdaleno when UPD Lieutenant Andy Phillips said he became “aggressive and took a fighting stance.” Frederickson’s reporting on the circumstance indicates Ukiah Police Lt. Phillips believes Magdaleno was under the influence of methamphetamine. Phillips told Frederickson it is “very common for people under the influence of meth to get very hot and take their clothes off. ...