Police had alleged that Calvin Rush evaded officers when he did not pull over for several blocks and that Jayme Rush battered police officers when she confronted them outside her home.
Vallejo police officers forcibly arrested Jayme Rush during a traffic stop on June 30. Video still courtesy Calvin and Jayme Rush.
VALLEJO – The Solano County District Attorney’s Office declined to charge a husband and wife who were violently arrested outside of their home in June after Vallejo police followed the man home from work because they said he evaded officers.
The DA’s office submitted notices last week of intent not to prosecute in Solano County Superior Court for both Calvin Rush and his wife Jayme Rush after both were arrested on June 30.
Police had alleged that Calvin Rush evaded officers when he did not pull over for several blocks and that Jayme Rush battered police officers when she confronted them outside her home, but the DA’s decision indicates that neither will be prosecuted for those alleged crimes.
The Vallejo Sun published video of the arrest shortly after it occurred, which shows police take Jayme Rush to the ground and arrest her after she had backed away from her husband’s car onto her front lawn.
The couple is also suing the Fairfield Police Department after they were both violently arrested during a traffic stop in that city in 2019. In that incident, an officer allegedly threw Calvin Rush to the ground after pulling him over for driving with expired tags. The lawsuit alleges that when his wife attempted to film the arrest, Officer Dustin Joseph — a former Vallejo police officer implicated in the city’s badge bending scandal — threw her to the ground as well.
The Rushes’ arrest in Vallejo happened around 3:20 p.m. on June 30. Calvin Rush said that he was returning home from work at a convenience store and passed Vallejo police headquarters on Amador Street. Officer Ted Garcia pulled up behind him and followed him for nearly a mile, according to Calvin Rush.
Garcia attempted to pull Rush over a few blocks from his home. After Rush stopped, Garcia claimed that he had pulled him over because he was driving 55 mph in a residential area, but Rush disputes that he was driving that fast.
Rush said in an interview that he continued driving the last few blocks from his home because he was afraid after his previous encounters with the police. “I was scared, and if anything was going to happen, I wanted to be in the presence of my family,” he said.
But Vallejo police spokesperson Sgt. Rashad Hollis said that when Rush continued driving Vallejo police considered it a pursuit and Garcia called for backup. Six Vallejo police officers arrived at Rush’s home, which Hollis said was all of the officers on duty at that time.
As Rush stopped in front of his home on Grant Street, his wife Jayme Rush came outside. She approached her husband’s passenger side window, confronting Garcia, who was at the driver’s side. She implored her husband to follow the officer’s commands.
After a brief argument with officers, a large male officer stepped onto the Rushes’ property, lunged at Jayme Rush and threw her to the ground.
In the video, Jayme Rush screams in pain as the officers pin her to the ground and pull her hands behind her back to handcuff her.
As officers pulled her to her feet — which the female officer attempted to do initially by pulling solely on the handcuffs behind Jayme Rush’s back — she screamed that her arm and neck were injured.
Vallejo police also arrested Calvin Rush, during which he said Officer Zach Horton pointed a Taser at him while he was handcuffed.
Calvin Rush was on probation at the time of his arrest, but his probation officer did not require him to stay in jail and he was released on bail. He said that his wife — who suffers from back injuries — went to a hospital and was left with marks and bruises and a gash on her knee.
