From [HERE] and [HERE] San Mateo County will pay $4.5 million to the family of a Black man who died during a confrontation with sheriff’s deputies more than four years ago in Millbrae.

Chinedu Okobi, 36, was shocked seven times with a Taser, pepper sprayed and beaten with batons as deputies tried to arrest him for jaywalking near El Camino Real and Millwood Drive on Oct. 3, 2018. He was later pronounced dead at an area hospital.

In May 2019, Okobi’s mother and daughter filed federal civil rights lawsuits against the county, claiming the deputies used excessive force and racially profiled Okobi.

The settlement was finalized in September, but it only became public this week after The San Francisco Standard filed a records request and obtained a copy of the document.

The county has agreed to larger settlements in the past, but this is the biggest to involve local law enforcement, county spokesperson Michelle Durand said in an email Wednesday.

The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office did not charge the deputies, and an internal affairs investigation found they acted within existing use-of-force policies.

Deputy Joshua Wang’s use of a stun gun was reasonable “given the totality of the circumstances and level of resistance he and other deputies met” when trying to arrest Okobi, Sgt. Jonathan Sebring wrote in a report related to the internal affairs probe.

Police claimed Okobi, a resident of Redwood City, was “running in and out of traffic” on a busy street around 1 p.m., according to an Oct. 3 press release from the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, when a deputy tried to make contact with him. The press release stated that Okobi “immediately assaulted the deputy,” who then called for backup. More law enforcement officers arrived as the struggle with Okobi continued. After Okobi was arrested, he was taken to the hospital where he was later declared dead.

Contrary to police reports and media accounts the video speaks for itself and clearly contradicts the police accounts. The district attorney's office posted the footage of Chinedu Okobi’s arrest on the county website.

The black man was not running in and out of traffic and did not immediately assault any cops. On the video a car passes him and he safely crosses the street. There appears to be no traffic on the 4 lane street. He then stops on the median and waits for vehicles going the other direction to pass before he crosses the street.

On the video he is seen calmly walking on the sidewalk when he is approached by an officer in a police cruiser. On the entire video he is never seen “running in and out of traffic.” When the cop initially approaches him he says something inaudible and calmly walks away from the cop and crosses the street.

While he is walking down the sidewalk cops approach him from both directions. Cops rushed out of their vehicles and began lunging at him. A white cop attempts to grab him [under arrest for what? jaywalking] and then another white cop pushes him into a sign while he has his hands up. Cops start yelling “stop resisting” as he moves away from them to get away. Cops yell “get on the ground” and then tase him. The 330-pound man then dropped to the ground screaming.

Other sheriff’s deputies arrived and a chaotic scene ensued, with deputies shouting at Okobi to turn over on his stomach, while Okobi cried, "What did I do? Someone please help me!"

After writhing on the ground Okobi then attempts to flee as cops give a slow trot chase. After the Black man punches an Asian cop in the face the cops then use deadly force as all 5 punch, pounce and smother him in the street. Like in says their Constitution - If you touch cops they can murder you.

"All of the original coverage was that my brother was running wildly through the street, he was darting in and out of traffic," Okobi’s sister, Ebele, said in a recent interview. "But what we saw is my brother walking on the sidewalk."

Ebele says the footage also refutes the description of her brother’s behavior during the arrest.

"When he was stopped, there was no assault at all, and when they tase him there's no assault," she said.

"The whole thing seems strange to me. Why you would tase someone who didn't represent a physical threat and wasn't doing anything?"

"They were so afraid of an unarmed bystander that they had to use the kind of force that turned out to be lethal. But they expect the person who's being attacked to be completely calm and understand," Ebele said.

"This is an example of a person who is dead, who should not be, based upon the seemingly over-aggressiveness on the part of police officers," said the family's attorney, John Burris.

"Police initiated this conversation, the contact, used force, used their billy clubs, pepper spray and they used a Taser a number of times — all of which contributed to his death."