photo credit: Izaak Schwaiger
A still image from the body camera of a responding Sebastopol Police officer shows Jeffrey
Callaghan being tased during a suspected DUI stop on July 24, 2024.

A former Sonoma County resident is taking the city of Sebastopol, and three, Sebastopol police officers, two former and one current, to court.

The lawsuit comes after the man was mistakenly arrested on suspicion of a DUI, according to his attorney Izaak Schwaiger.

"At first glance, a person could be forgiven for thinking this was an excessive force case," Schwaiger said. "It's really not."

Schwaiger said the case stems from what his client, Jeffrey Callaghan, said was actually a diabetic episode.

Callaghan, a type-1 diabetic, was 45 at the time of the arrest in July 2024.

He claims he slipped into a hypoglycemic stupor while driving through Sebastopol, after his monitor device malfunctioned.

According to the lawsuit, he began to lose consciousness and control of his Ford pickup, before coming to a stop on Highway 116 south of the city while pursued by police.

According to the lawsuit and police body camera footage, the responding Sebastopol police officer repeatedly deployed a taser on him, while Callaghan's then 6 year old daughter was in the vehicle, believing him to be under the influence.

The responding officer allegedly broke Callaghan's arm while restraining him, before a fire department medic gave him sugar gel to stabilize his blood sugar level.

Despite regaining lucidity after his blood sugar levels were corrected, Callaghan was ultimately booked into the Sonoma County jail on felony charges of child endangerment and resisting arrest.

"We have alleged, among other things, that this was a conspiracy to violate civil rights," Schwaiger said.

Schwaiger argued those charges were filed in an attempt to cover up the officers mishandling of the situation.

The charges against Callaghan were dismissed by the Sonoma County District Attorney in February.

According to Schwaiger, Callaghan has since moved out of Sonoma County because of the incident.

Callaghan is seeking both financial compensation and a jury trial for the case.

"Ultimately if the parties are unable to resolve the case on their own, then the case is going to go to a jury," Schwaiger said. "You know that may be where this case has to go. Better than nine out of ten cases are going to end up in some kind of agreed upon settlement or resolution, they're not going to go to a jury trial, but something tells me this case might be different."

The City of Sebastopol told KRCB News, "it looks forward to defending its officers in court, and responding to all allegations through the legal process."