The murder of Miles Armstead: Oakland PD sued after dad-of-4 shot by squatter who 'terrorized' family
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: The Oakland Police Department has been sued for allegedly allowing a squatter to terrorize his neighbor, resulting in the victim being fatally shot as he left his home with his pregnant wife and three children. This week, the family of slain Miles Armstead filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court in California. In May 2020, as he was leaving the Ney Avenue home with his family, Jamal Thomas, who is currently behind bars, shot him in the back of the head.
Amstead and his wife Melina had made the decision to sell the house they had laboriously acquired the day he was murdered, but Thomas ambushed them and killed Amstead when they tried to escape his clutches. Earlier, they had made 23 calls to the Oakland Police Department pleading for help, but the officers present only looked the other way. The officers also made fun of Amstead's situation, comparing him and Thomas to "two twelve-year-old girls."
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Who was Miles Armstead?
Who was Miles Armstead?
As per Miles Armstead's Facebook profile, he was a Former Regional Bank Private Banker II at wells fargo bank and studied at the University of San Francisco. On May 1, 2020, the 44-year-old father of four, who was expecting a child with his second wife, was doing yard work at his East Oakland house on the corner of 76th and Ney Avenues when he was fatally shot Thomas who had been tormenting the family for months, as per Courthouse News Service.
Who is Jamal Thomas?
According to police reports at the time, the months-long dispute between the two men began when 46-year-old Jamal Thomas was living illegally in a neighbor's home after being kicked out months earlier. Thomas then began a cycle of abuse against the family of six in November 2019, feverishly knocking on their door and even attempting to break in. He continued the harassment campaign for weeks, eventually forcing police to arrest him about a month before the murder for making "terrorist threats" against the family.
Miles Armstead calls to the cops went unanswered
Thomas was released just days later, however, and it's alleged that most of Armstead's 23 calls to police documenting his former neighbor's actions went unanswered. The lawsuit alleges that when police officers did respond, they mostly ignored Armstead's concerns, complained that they were understaffed or blamed Armstead for events they deemed unimportant.
What did Jamal Thomas do?
On Thanksgiving Day of 2019, Thomas frantically banged on the front door of the Armsteads' home yelling unintelligibly as he tried to break in. The lawsuit states how the family was let down by the police department's actions. "Unfortunately, this was just the first incident in a six-month sequence of increasingly harassing and threatening behavior directed at the Armstead family," the lawsuit states before describing the risks Armstead and his family endured over the course of six months.
"Initially, the persistent pattern of threats and harassment consisted of taunts, verbal threats, door knocking, doorbell ringing and other nuisance type behavior," the lawsuit reads. "The Armsteads faithfully called and reported the incidents to the police. Nevertheless, Defendant Officers working for the Oakland Police Department failed to make an arrest, detain, and/or curb the behavior," per the lawsuit.
What did Armstead family's lawyers say?
Oakland cops said that they "were understaffed, overworked, and the family's pleas for help were not high priorities," according to lawyers seeking compensation for the family's agony and suffering. The complaint continues that the cops spoke to Thomas next door while they were outdoors, "implicitly communicating to him that he could continue his harassment with impunity." Additionally, it claims that an OPD officer informed the two men they had been "acting like 12-year-old girls" after getting irritated with Armstead's concerns.
Miles Armstead's pregnant wife was seriously injured in attack
According to the lawsuit, the declaration was made by Oakland Officer Alejandro Padilla on February 26, 2020, and it was done just before Padilla and his colleague arrested Thomas after discovering the suspect menacing Armstead with a baseball bat when they arrived on the scene. According to the lawsuit, Armstead told the police that the suspect had threatened to set Miles Armstead's home on fire while his family was inside after receiving the 11th call from the family since November. By this time, according to the lawsuit, the department had three police reports on file describing violent acts the defendant had performed, including one in which Melina, who was then pregnant, suffered serious injuries "from broken glass that struck her" during one of his rants.
'Acting like 12-year-old girls, both of you guys!'
Photos of Jamal sitting in Padilla's patrol car during his arrest are included in the lawsuit, grinning in a way that the family claims shows he was relieved that the police were not taking Armstead seriously. Jamal, according to laywers, "had obvious mental health issues that contributed to him experiencing violent, uncontrollable yet persistent outbursts," but less than 48 hours after his arrest, authorities would free him, only for James to kill Armstead a month later. The suit says of the February 26 incident, "When Ofc Padilla exited his vehicle he ordered Jamal Thomas and [Armstead] to separate. While doing so, [Armstead] complained to Ofc Padilla that [Thomas] had threatened his family. Ofc Padilla told them that they were 'acting like 12-year-old girls, both of you guys!'' it reads.
Padilla "proceeded to berate" the father when Armstead said that Thomas had been tormenting his family, threatening to burn them alive while brandishing a bat and throwing pebbles at their windows. "In response," the suit said, "Thomas knowingly smiled acknowledging Ofc Padilla's comments and obviously interpreting them as assurances that officers were not going to intervene on Miles' behalf." The suit went on, "Oakland Officers made these comments outside of the Armstead residence, well within earshot of Mr Thomas, who had taken up residence next door. On information and belief, Mr Thomas heard the Defendant Officers discount the severity of the situation, implicitly communicating to him that he could continue his harassment with impunity." In a picture that goes with that passage, the murderer can be seen grinning sinisterly while being restrained in Padilla's police cruiser, as if aware of the harsh measures he would use to put an end to the two men's argument.
'Failed to make an arrest or curb the behavior'
It further states that Thomas killed Armstead as a result of the negligence of not just the Oakland Police Department but also the overseeing county of Alameda. Thomas' decline began when he was faced with the potential of becoming homeless after being evicted. Attorneys stated in their letter that "unfortunately, this was just the first incident in a six-month sequence of increasingly threatening and harassing behavior directed at the Armstead family," adding that the family "faithfully called and reported the incidents to the police." It added, "Nevertheless, defendant officers working for the Oakland Police Department failed to make an arrest, detain, and/or curb the behavior."
Who was named as a defendant in the lawsuit?
The officers who responded to the call on February 26, 2020, as well as both of the region's police forces, are named as defendants in the shocking lawsuit due to "their negligence, breach of duty, negligent supervision...[and] violation of public policy." Both law enforcement agencies contend that by making the February arrest and issuing a warrant for a second before the May 1 murder, they did everything within their power to resolve the protracted conflict between the two men. In response to criticism of the murder, police also pointed the finger at the legal system, claiming that the state courts had a chance to "keep this gentleman in custody" but instead released him back onto the streets, as per Daily Mail.
'He would've been out of jail in six or seven hours'
In order to stop the coronavirus from spreading in jails, the Judicial Council of California at the time approved emergency powers that allowed bail to be set at $0 in misdemeanor and low-level felony cases. According to Sgt Ray Kelly of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, if Thomas had been caught for allegedly throwing a brick through the family's window in March 2020, "he would've been out of jail in six or seven hours." "It's heartbreaking that this gentleman lost his life," he said. "I mean, how many more red flags do you need?" Even yet, Kelly's agency is still listed as a defendant, along with the Oakland Police Department, which at the time was run by Interim Chief Susan Manheimer during a series of changes to the top-level structure that have been ongoing since 2009, reports Daily Mail.