Man Who Used Profanity in Public Faces Multiple Charges After Arrest by Off-Duty RPD Officer
The arrest of Norman Valdez in April was caught on camera by a community member, prompting a heated public discussion about RPD’s use of force.
Using offensive language that’s “inherently likely” to provoke a violent reaction is a violation of California penal code 415(3). It’s one of five counts that’s been leveraged against 62-year-old Norman Valdez by the Shasta County District Attorney in a June 10 filing. The other counts relate to his alleged battering of a police officer in the process of resisting arrest.
Valdez first appeared in court on June 30, and pleaded not guilty on all counts. A settlement conference is set for August 8, 2025.
The charges came after Valdez was arrested by on April 26 following a verbal outburst in a public space outside a Kool April Nights event. According to the police report, an agitated Valdez “caused a disturbance” at a parking lot where a group of youths that are part of the volunteer Redding Police Department (RPD) explorer program were gathered. Valdez allegedly yelled profanities at two female RPD community service officers (CSO) through a chain link fence, and at another male CSO working as a parking attendant. An off-duty RPD officer named Jacob Ruiz intervened telling Valdez to “leave the women and children alone.” Two other officers, an off-duty sheriff’s deputy referred to as C. Henderson and uniformed RPD officer Zack Lange, later arrived and assisted in Valdez arrest.
The ordeal was filmed by a bystander and later went viral on social media, prompting a conversation about the conduct of the off-duty and plain-clothed Ruiz during the arrest. In the video, Ruiz tells Valdez to “get on the fucking ground motherfucker,” as he repeatedly pushes him backwards before clearly identifying himself as a police officer, a statement which Valdez does not immediately acknowledge. It is unknown whether the officer had already identified himself before the bystander started filming.
According to the RPD policy manual, off-duty officers attempting to act in their official role as law enforcement are required “refrain from handling incidents of personal interest” while off-duty. If they do engage, the policy manual indicates, off-duty RPD officers should, when practical, “loudly and repeatedly identify him/herself as a police officer until acknowledged” before taking further action.
During the incident Valdez repeatedly yelled back at an advancing Ruiz asking, “what did I do,” while backing up and swatting away the officer’s continued attempts to lay hands on him. Ruiz responds by alleging that Valdez is “obstructing a public officer”.
When off-duty sheriff’s deputy Henderson arrives on scene he announces his name and status as an off-duty officer, but does not immediately intervene. After an on-duty RPD officer arrives in uniform, Valdez says he’d be happy to have the uniformed officer search him but the three officers quickly lunge towards Valdez instead, forcing him to the ground and into handcuffs.
As Ruiz kneels on the 62-year-old’s head, Valdez can be heard saying, “you’re hurting me,” and “I can’t breathe.”
Bystander video documents a number of inconsistencies between claims in Lange’s police report about the incident and actual events. For example, the report claims that Valdez was “swinging his arms and almost hit Ruiz in the face,” but the video does not capture this alleged provocation. The police report also claims that all three officers were needed to subdue a resisting Valdez. But Valdez does not appear to resist as he is immediately overwhelmed by the physical force of three officers despite his loud claims that he is not resisting.
After being handcuffed Valdez sits up and asks the officers again what he did.
“You didn’t listen,” answers Ruiz.
An RPD news briefing published the day of the arrest said Valdez was arrested in part for “public intoxication,” indicating that he was showing “objective signs and symptoms” of being under the influence of a “central nervous system stimulant,” meaning a drug such as methamphetamine. But Valdez was never charged with intoxication and there is no indication he was ever tested for drug or alcohol use. RPD did not respond to a request for comment.
Instead, Valdez has been accused of a “crime against public peace” for using profanity, which the DA describes as language “inherently likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction.” A case by the Supreme Court has found that an obscenity alone is not grounds to charge someone with “disturbing the peace.”
A second briefing about the arrest that was released by RPD on May 19 claimed that Valdez “has multiple prior law enforcement contacts with the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office for “disturbing the peace.” However a review of filings with the Shasta County Superior court show that Valdez has never faced disturbing the peace charges in court from these past encounters.
A review of records related to the off-duty RPD officer Ruiz indicate that he has not faced any departmental reviews due to allegations of excessive use of force. A 2022 lawsuit brought against Ruiz and another officer by a community member alleged that he used excessive force during an arrest. The lawsuit was later dropped due to procedural issues.
Do you have a correction to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org.
Comments (21)
Comments are closed.
Related Articles
This California bill could impact public records access. It’s of special interest in Shasta
The proposed bill’s proponent says it would reduce “frivolous” public records requests. A transparency group says it would “chill” public access. In Shasta, California’s mandated public records process is already under scrutiny by local government officials who say it’s costing taxpayers too much.
New Shasta strategic plan lays out ambitious five-year agenda. Money remains a central problem
Shasta’s new five-year strategic plan prioritizes several projects, including a corrections and rehabilitation campus and local medical school. But a lack of clear funding sources may keep Shasta from following through.
Juneteenth celebration in Downtown Redding will honor African American history
The Shasta Coalition of African Americans for Community Health, Education and Empowerment is hosting a community celebration in Downtown Redding to celebrate and educate about Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.
This is a good case for a jury trial with multiple witnesses. It appears to be someone under the influence yelling and screaming at public employees doing their jobs for no good reason and creating a loud disturbance. The facts are the guy arrested was given MULTIPLE chances to walk away and didn’t. Then resisted/fought being arrested. This was a legit arrest considering the circumstances.
There were 2 dozen uniformed officers within a 1/2mile of this location. Jacob Ruiz the off duty officer should not have assaulted the man for his 1st amendment activity on the public sidewalk. Vote out the DA who is prosecuting this case and vote no on the upcoming sales tax increase to give the Redding Police Department more money for behavior like this. The bearded man did not threaten anyone, made no physical assault, and only defended himself from a small tyrant who violated his federally protected civil rights on the public sidewalk. Super disappointed in all three officers conduct. This is what North Korea does to those who speak freely.
Preach!!
It seems to be a sad story that could have been avoided. There is tension on both sites of this issue, in part, baked into the cake. On one hand we have to have policing and on the other the policing should be done in a way that does not provoke violence. Hard to say what happened in this case. I think it could have been avoided if other tools were used. There are mental health clinicians available to help officers de-escalate the situations. Additionally, not clearly, and repeatedly identifying yourself, with ID, that you are a peace officer from the very start of interaction can really be a problem. I understand why the defendant or the defendant’s attorney would not make comment at this point.
Ruiz is objecting to Valdez’s language??
I hope this man has a decent attorney and can properly defend himself. Did the author of this article find out that info?
A: We were unable to reach Mr. Valdez for comment.
I fully support law enforcement, too, but I also fully support rational behavior in an encounter like this. There are a lot of contradictions between the scenes that were captured on video and the statements made. I believe the situation needs further investigation and our RPD officers may well need de-escalation training to better handle situations like this.
The police (especially the RPD) lie. They constantly lie. All the time. In every situation. They lie in interactions with the public. They lie in press releases. They lie in official reports. They lie on social media.
Nevin,
Typically you try to be objective and take an unbiased view on your reporting. This time you failed at being objective and reported only what seems to be your personal opinion regarding a police state into the article. Hopefully you will consider this and try to do a better job next time…
You failed to mention what Valdez was saying to prompt the action in the first place. My tolerance of these types of public harassment has steeply declined once I became a husband and a father.
I’ve been to public events where there’s that one guy that is belligerent and obnoxious, and is happily silenced without law enforcement assistance. It’s my opinion that Valdez got off easy rather than having one of the children’s father, or one of the ladies better half, intervene.
Maybe if Valdez just enjoyed the event and let others do the same, this would have never happened in the first place. Just a thought…
How’s that boot taste?
Hi John, thanks for the feedback – to increase transparency, I’ve linked to the police report in the article so readers can take a look for themselves. I chose to describe Valdez’s speech as “profanities” to reflect Officer Lange’s report.
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25995364-norman-valdez-counts-and-police-report/
At the end of the day in a “fair and balanced society” everyone is accountable including and especially the police.
ESPECIALLY the police! They should be held to a much higher standard than everyday citizens.
Zero tolerance! That is all!
Use more exclamations!! It really helps your arguments!!
Especially since it makes you seem like you are yelling all the time!!
See, I like to use them too!!!
Like you, I find it a great way to communicate!!!
You’re just like me!! (Except I’m deaf, I don’t think you are, are you?)
Carry on Jon!!!!!
Great reporting by Shasta Scout! Wish we could see reporting like this in the RS.
I fully support the law enforcement. On the street is not the place to fight the police. If you were wronged you have other avenues to respond, on the street you will only lose standing, you may also lose your life. I feel if LEO were left to do their job, without restrictive constraints or ROE, you would see a lot less disrespect towards them and fewer “on scene” encounters go south.
From my point of view, after reading this article, using offensive words in public must not be too serious of a crime. That’s going on the fact that off-duty law enforcement officer Ruiz apparently was willing to commit the same offense.
Very good, Denise. Blind obedience is exactly what you’ve been trained for. Excellent job.
LOL! Yeah great idea, lets put LESS restrictions on the police.
ACAB