In today's body camera video, we're covering the case of Marvin Morales.
We're a news agency committed to delivering factual information about police procedures and local news events. This video aims to educate the public without bias. Our goal is to empower viewers with a clear understanding of what's happening in their communities.
This is news piece in the public's interest. This video was created with the intent of educating the public.
We're a news agency committed to delivering factual information about police procedures and local news events. This video aims to educate the public without bias. Our goal is to empower viewers with a clear understanding of what's happening in their communities.
This is news piece in the public's interest. This video was created with the intent of educating the public.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Marola! Wake up, bro! Marola!
00:06There you go. Wake up, bud.
00:08Come on, Mark. Come on. Wake up, bud.
00:10On October 24th, 2023, panic ensues at the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department in California
00:17when a deputy enters the bathroom to find a colleague unresponsive on the floor.
00:22As deputies attempt life-saving measures, the mystery of what caused his collapse unravels,
00:27forcing them to draw a horrifying conclusion.
00:30The following report is based on official police records.
00:33Please note that all persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
00:40It's just after 8 p.m. when an on-duty deputy enters the restroom at the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department,
00:46finding Deputy Marvin Morales seemingly passed out in the corner of the stall.
00:52Leave that door open!
00:53My radio's dead.
00:55Get his vest off.
00:56Get his vest off. Straighten his legs.
00:58Straighten his legs.
00:59Yep.
01:04Hey, he's f***ing on me.
01:06Marles.
01:07Marvin!
01:09Marles.
01:10Hey.
01:11Marles.
01:12Hey, drag him out. Drag him out. Drag him out. Drag him out.
01:18Hey, students.
01:19Leave that door open for fire.
01:20I got it. I got it.
01:22Put a trash can out there.
01:25Marles.
01:27Wake up, bud.
01:28Come on.
01:29Pulse?
01:30How's he doing?
01:31Pulse? Is he breathing?
01:32He's breathing.
01:34He's got pulse.
01:39That's his car. That's my car. I came to use the restroom.
01:43I thought he was in there taking a poop, and as soon as I opened the door, he's leaning against the corner.
01:48I'm going to f*** him right now.
01:53He's down.
01:55There we go. There we go.
01:57Come on, buddy.
01:59There you go. Wake up, bud.
02:00There you go.
02:01Come on, Mark. Come on.
02:02Wake up, bud.
02:03Come on.
02:04Come on, man.
02:05Wake up, Marles.
02:06Wake up, Marles.
02:07Wake up. There you go.
02:08There you go.
02:09Hey, do you want to roll in the door cover?
02:11What's up?
02:12Do you want to start rolling in the door cover at all?
02:14Just because of all the mucus and s*** from getting hit?
02:17We'll keep him like this because he's breathing and he's got pulse.
02:19Come on, Mark.
02:20Come on, breathe.
02:21Come on, bud.
02:22Come on, Marvin.
02:23Mark.
02:24Come on, bud.
02:25I came to use the restroom.
02:26Yeah.
02:27Sternal rub's not going to help him.
02:28I'm pulse.
02:29Good.
02:30Come on, Marvin.
02:31It's not going to be late.
02:32They attempt a sternal rub, a technique used to assess a person's level of consciousness,
02:37but Deputy Morales has no visible response.
02:41Come on, Marvin.
02:42I'm going to try breathing one more time.
02:44You're done with that?
02:45Yeah, Marvin.
02:47There we go.
02:48There we go.
02:49Come on, Mark.
02:50Come on, Marvin.
02:51There we go.
02:52Hey.
02:53Hey.
02:54Take these.
02:55I'm going to the ambulance tomorrow.
02:56Come on, Marvin.
02:57Come on.
02:58Come on, Mark.
02:59I see you.
03:00There you go.
03:01Keep breathing.
03:02Stay with us.
03:03You're good.
03:04Paramedics arrive and Deputy Morales is transported to a local hospital for further treatment.
03:07Meanwhile, deputies on scene learn he collected narcotics during an earlier on-duty call
03:12With concerns he may have experienced an accidental exposure, deputies begin to search his vehicle.
03:18Hey, Alex said it was in a glove.
03:20Yeah, I'm not seeing it.
03:21There's a couple more gloves in there.
03:22I felt those.
03:23There's a great many things in it.
03:24That one's empty.
03:30I'm not seeing anything in the box.
03:32No, I checked that one.
03:33I didn't feel like there was anything in them.
03:37Not that one.
03:39Would probably not be in his ticket box.
03:41Did that actually shine light over here, Sarge?
03:43No.
03:46Something about them.
03:48It's damp, but I don't feel...
03:56I don't feel anything on that one.
03:57I don't see any other gloves floating around in there, do you?
04:00No.
04:03Pull up his last call that he was on and see if he already logged anything in RMS for it.
04:07I'm surprised we haven't done that, and if we're not finding it, he could have already possibly booked it.
04:12I was like, he was on a 415 family, and I didn't see anything in my tote.
04:15No, he was on a... he collected dope at like 6...
04:206.30-ish.
04:21Okay.
04:22The following footage, recorded at a Shell gas station, captures the moment he obtained the narcotics,
04:27just hours before he would be found unresponsive on the bathroom floor.
04:32What's up, bro? What's good? You okay?
04:34Come on.
04:37You're having a lot of fun out here, bro.
04:39Yeah.
04:41I got new sunglasses.
04:44I just saw you last week over here, bro.
04:46Yeah.
04:47You was dancing at the same time, too, man.
04:49Yeah.
04:50You promised me your best dance moves.
04:51Who?
04:52You.
04:53Yeah.
04:54You promised me your best dance moves.
04:56Yeah, yeah, definitely.
04:57What's up? You don't say no way.
04:59I gotta go back to downtown, dance there.
05:01I gotta go back to downtown, dance there.
05:03They're all waiting for me.
05:07Last time I went in the stadium was, uh...
05:10I was about to fall down.
05:13You were about to pass out the other night, though.
05:15Last week.
05:16You was on that fetty.
05:18Oh, oh yeah?
05:19Yeah.
05:22Is that what that foil is right there in your pocket, or...
05:24Be real with it. Just be real.
05:26Just be real.
05:27Oh, s***, yeah.
05:28Yeah?
05:29Could be.
05:30Could be, is it?
05:31I think it is.
05:32I'm not sure.
05:33Yeah?
05:36Not for now.
05:37So you could either hand it over, or I could put you in cuffs,
05:39and take it out your pockets up to you.
05:43I don't know.
05:44Just hand it over.
05:50Can I get a vacuum?
05:51How about that straw right there?
05:55Deputy Morales and his partner temporarily detained the suspect
05:59after clearing his pockets,
06:00he asks for clarification on the contents of the foil packet.
06:05What is this?
06:06What exactly is this from?
06:09Uh...
06:10Crystal?
06:11Crystal?
06:12Deputy Morales can then be seen tucking the foil packet into a black glove
06:15before securing it in the hatch of his cruiser.
06:18Afterwards, he writes the suspect a citation for possession of narcotics
06:22and lets him go.
06:23All right.
06:25See you next week.
06:27Hey, I'm here.
06:28This is my area.
06:30You're welcome.
06:32Despite securing the evidence in his cruiser,
06:34it's nowhere to be found.
06:36However, deputies still searching quickly find something else,
06:39which raises even more concerns.
06:42He said a foil with a...
06:44And a glove, right?
06:46How often do we just get rid of those?
06:48I think I cited him.
06:49But he cited me.
06:50Yeah, you're right.
06:51You're right, you're right.
06:53That might just be an old busted meth pipe,
06:55because there was no mention of a pipe in the call.
06:57Yeah, but there's glass right here, and there's foil.
06:59Or, there's not foil, but there's...
07:01Yeah, it might just be an old meth pipe, Sarge.
07:02Huh?
07:03He said that might just be an old pipe.
07:06I tossed it in there, but that's literally just a shattered pipe.
07:09Well, then is that what it was?
07:11It was foil, right?
07:12It said...
07:13What the guy said was meth,
07:14so it was an off-white substance in foil.
07:20No mention of a pipe, though?
07:21No.
07:22One deputy considers an explanation that might explain
07:25why the narcotics would no longer be secured in his vehicle.
07:28Do you think he was going to go and book it,
07:30but use the bathroom first?
07:32No, there's no reason to...
07:33I mean, he could have, but there's no reason to pocket it,
07:35because the stuff's all the way in the back of the station.
07:38He'd have to get back in the car and drive in and grab it.
07:42That has to be in his cargo pocket.
07:44It has to be.
07:47But are his pants still at the hospital?
07:48Because he went with his pants to the hospital.
07:52I don't know.
07:53Let's see if they can check on that.
07:54Deputies with Morales at the hospital check his pockets,
07:57finally locating the evidence.
08:20However, the question of whether the exposure was accidental
08:23reaches a shocking conclusion
08:25when deputies locate a small glass pipe
08:27and an orange torch lighter in the bathroom
08:30where Deputy Morales collapsed.
08:32The pipe that's on the ground wasn't next to it, was it?
08:35Don't remember.
08:36That's what I'm concerned about.
08:37There's a meth pipe sitting over by the door.
08:38I don't remember, but it was in the stall.
08:40Okay.
08:41Okay.
08:42Additionally, hair and blood samples collected at the hospital
08:45indicated at least 90 days of narcotics use.
08:48Investigators with the Bureau of Internal Affairs
08:51discovered that on August 9th and 15th, 2023,
08:54he cited two individuals
08:56for misdemeanor possession of paraphernalia.
08:59In his reports, he claimed to have disposed of a glass pipe,
09:02but later admitted to taking one home
09:04and using it multiple times.
09:07Investigators with the Bureau of Internal Affairs
09:09ultimately concluded that Deputy Morales
09:11intentionally used the narcotics he seized from the suspect
09:14on October 24th, 2023.
09:17On January 1st, 2024,
09:19investigators recommended Morales for termination.
09:23However, before formal action was taken,
09:25he submitted a formal resignation letter
09:27on February 2nd, 2024.