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Board recommends decertifying Oroville officer after division finds abuse of power in patient transport and drop-off
Summary
The division recommended revoking Robert Sasek’s POST certificate, finding he transported a person in medical distress to a hospital but left her in a desolate area instead of ensuring medical clearance; the complainant later suffered serious injuries. The advisory board voted to recommend decertification.
The Peace Officer Standards Accountability Division recommended revoking the POST certification of former Oroville Police Department officer Robert Sasek after investigators concluded he committed an abuse-of-power violation by leaving a person in need of medical attention on a remote stretch of road at night.
Scott Balen, a law enforcement consultant with the division’s Northern Bureau, told the advisory board that on Sept. 1, 2022, officers arrested a woman for trespassing after she was found in a private pool, booked her and then released her from custody. Sheriff’s or jail nursing staff refused booking because she had high blood pressure and required medical clearance. The division’s account says Officer Sasek transported the woman to Oroville Medical Center but did not take her into the emergency room for treatment; instead, he returned to his patrol vehicle, cited and released her and later transported her again on his own toward Chico.
The division said Sasek left the woman at an isolated location on Neal (Veil) Road in the dark without shoes, a purse or a phone. The division said the woman later was found with catastrophic injuries after a hit-and-run; she required multiple surgeries, lost portions of her small intestine, had part of her colon removed, required a colostomy bag and later had two toes amputated. The complainant filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit that the city of Oroville later settled for $3,000,000, the division said.
The division’s presentation said Sasek failed to activate body-worn camera and did not use available communications (radio or RIMS application) to document or request guidance while transporting the person. The division concluded Sasek’s actions amounted to a willful, egregious dereliction of duty and recommended revocation of his POST certificate.
Officer Sasek spoke at the hearing and said he accepted responsibility for the decision to let the person out of his patrol vehicle when she demanded it. “I take full responsibility for what happened,” Sasek told the board. He said he intended to avoid leaving her on a freeway and believed the roadside location was safer than Highway 99; he said in hindsight he should have sought further instruction or obtained a jail medical clearance.
Board members pressed Sasek about the absence of body-worn camera footage, the failure to contact dispatch or a supervisor, and whether the transported person was capable of making a safe decision to exit the vehicle. Several board members emphasized that the person was exhibiting signs consistent with substance use and possible dehydration and that the officer’s choices left her in a worse position.
After closing discussion and a closed-session review, the board voted 6–0 to recommend decertification of Robert Sasek to the commission. The motion to recommend decertification passed with aye votes from Member Clavo, Chair Dudley, Member Glaser, Member Johnson, Member Lara and Member Pena (Member Crawford had left early and did not vote).
The division’s recommendation and the board’s vote are advisory to the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training; the commission will decide whether to schedule a formal evidentiary hearing and issue a final decertification order.
