Sheriff’s office clears deputy who shot Jason Thompson in Vallejo last year

VALLEJO – The Solano County Sheriff’s Office found that a deputy’s fatal shooting of a man who approached officers with a reciprocating saw blade in his hand last year was within department policy, finding that deputies “took steps to end the confrontation peacefully.”

The sheriff’s internal affairs investigation also found that deputies were within policy when they used a Taser on 29-year-old Jason Thompson of San Jose prior to killing him.

The shooting happened on June 19, 2022, after Thompson allegedly fled from a hit-and-run collision in Vallejo. Vallejo police did not have officers available to respond, Solano County sheriff’s deputies responded more than two hours later. The deputy shot and killed Thompson minutes after arriving.

The district attorney’s office cleared Deputy John Robertson, who killed Thompson, of any criminal charges in a letter dated Sept. 6. Sheriff’s Sgt. Walt Walker concluded the sheriff’s internal review in a report dated Sept. 9, but the letter was not released until Tuesday in response to a public records request from the Vallejo Sun.

According to the DA’s office, Vallejo police first received the call of a white Saturn Vue that had crashed on Curtola Parkway and Marin Street at 4:14 p.m. The crashed car was registered to Thompson’s wife.

About an hour later, Vallejo police received a report of another crash nearby after an alleged carjacking. A man, later identified as Thompson, had allegedly jumped into a car while its owner was getting gas. As Thompson drove away, the car’s owner jumped into the car’s window and fought with him, causing him to crash into a light pole, according to the DA’s office. The woman grabbed Thompson’s shirt as he ran from the car, but he escaped.

The woman later encountered Thompson again at the Texaco gas station, where he allegedly confronted her with a knife, according to the DA’s office. She pepper sprayed him twice and Thompson walked away, still holding the knife.

Vallejo police received another report of a man cutting himself with a knife at 6:45 p.m. The caller reported he was walking shirtless and talking to himself incoherently on Pennsylvania Street, holding a saw blade in one hand and a hand saw in the other.

A Vallejo police dispatcher asked the Solano County Sheriff’s Office to respond to the incident as there were no available Vallejo police units, according to the DA’s office. Robertson responded with deputies Eduardo Borrego and Esteben Greenwood, who were all working overtime shifts at the Solano County Fair.

The deputies pulled over after they saw Thompson. As they got out of their cars, Thompson turned and walked toward their patrol cars.

Body camera video released by the sheriff’s office last year shows that Robertson immediately drew his gun as he exited his patrol car and yelled “stop!” repeatedly at Thompson, who continued walking toward him.

With his gun pointed at Thompson, who kept approaching, Robertson said things like “Stop, bud. Just talk to me” and “Stop. I don’t want to shoot you, man,” as Thompson quickened his pace towards the deputy. Borrego Tased Thompson, but he continued moving toward Robertson, who then fired seven shots at Thompson using his personal handgun from just feet away.

Thompson collapsed.

“Fuck!” Robertson yelled.

Seconds later, Thompson rose to his knees while bleeding profusely and then collapsed again while moaning.

“Don’t shoot, I got him,” Robertson said with his gun again pointed at Thompson. “Stay down, man. Please, I’m begging you.”

Deputies kept yelling at Thompson to “drop the knife,” but Thompson remained unresponsive to commands and began shaking, moaning and yelling.

After about three minutes, the deputies approached Thompson, handcuffed him and provided medical attention as other deputies arrived.

Two eyewitnesses previously told the Vallejo Sun that they thought the shooting was excessive or “overkill.”

Those witnesses — who spoke to the Sun on the condition of anonymity — said sheriff’s deputies did not try to de-escalate the situation despite Thompson appearing to harm himself with the saw blades before gesturing towards authorities.

But the sheriff’s office found that the deputies did take steps to de-escalate the situation. Robertson told investigators that the deputies asked to call the county’s mobile crisis response team, but it was not available. The sheriff’s office said that the deputies gave repeated commands for Thompson to drop the blades, but he did not comply.

“Robertson remembers even begging Thompson to drop his weapon,” the report states. After Robertson shot Thompson, “Robertson said deputies continued to give Thompson verbal commands and offered help if he dropped his weapon.”

“The deputies acted within the agency’s policy and took steps to end the confrontation peacefully,” Walker wrote in his report. “De-escalation attempts were made, and alternative solutions were sought to conclude the confrontation at the lowest level.”

James Cook, an attorney with the Oakland-based Law Offices of John Burris, submitted a claim for damages on behalf of Thompson’s family weeks after the shooting, which is typically a precursor to a lawsuit.