Alameda County fires sheriff’s deputies who are charged with beating a man with batons

Reporting from San Francisco —  Two Alameda County sheriff’s deputies seen on surveillance video beating a man with batons in San Francisco’s Mission District have been fired, authorities said.

Deputies Paul Wieber and Luis Santamaria are no longer with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office as of 5 p.m. Friday, Alameda County sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Kelly did not provide details on their departure, but Michael Rains, an attorney for Santamaria, said the deputies were fired for their role in the Nov. 12, 2015, beating of Stanislav Petrov.

The deputies were caught on surveillance video striking Petrov more than 40 times with steel batons after a 38-minute car chase from Castro Valley and a foot chase into a dark alley in San Francisco.

The San Francisco district attorney’s office charged Wieber and Santamaria in May with assault with a deadly weapon, assault under the color of authority and battery. They pleaded not guilty.

The office also opened a criminal investigation against Deputy Shawn Osborne, who is seen in the video holding a gold chain that had been taken from Petrov as he lay bleeding on the ground. Osborne is accused of giving the gold chain to a homeless couple who witnessed the incident in exchange for keeping quiet.

Petrov suffered cuts to his head and broken bones in his hands and arms. His attorneys said he also endured mental anguish and fear. He filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the deputies in August.