POST panel recommends decertification for Oroville officer after division says he left a vulnerable person on a desolate road; victim later suffered life‑alteri

The Police Officer Standards Accountability Advisory Board voted 6-0 Thursday to recommend that the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training revoke the POST certificate of former Oroville Police Department officer Robert Sasek after the division said it found clear and convincing evidence of abuse of power for leaving a vulnerable person in a remote area.

Scott Balen, a law enforcement consultant with the division’s Northern Bureau, told the board that on Sept. 1, 2022, officers repeatedly encountered a woman who had earlier been arrested for trespass and who the division says was under the influence of methamphetamine and suffering medical issues. Balen said the woman was not admitted for booking because jail nursing staff required medical clearance, was transported to the Oroville Medical Center, then left in Sasek’s patrol vehicle. Balen said Sasek drove the woman approximately 15.5 miles toward Chico and, after the woman demanded to get out, stopped near a desolate location on Neil (Veil) Road and left her there without shoes, a purse or means to call for help.

Why it matters: The division told the board the decision left the woman in a worse condition; she was later struck by a vehicle, hospitalized, developed sepsis, required multiple surgeries including removal of part of her small intestine and colon and later had two toes amputated. The city of Oroville later settled a federal civil‑rights suit related to the incident for $3,000,000, Balen said.

Division summary and investigative findings

Balen summarized the timeline: the complainant was arrested by the Butte County Sheriff for trespass at about 1:30 p.m. and released from jail about 4:17 p.m.; at about 8:52 p.m. she was reported hiding in a Dollar General storeroom and was arrested by Sasek at 9:21 p.m.; jail nursing staff refused booking at about 9:43 p.m. for medical clearance; Sasek took her to the emergency room at 9:48 p.m. but left her in his patrol vehicle and later left the hospital at about 10:01 p.m.; the security guard called police back and Sasek returned about 10:13 p.m.; after clearing the complainant from under an MRI trailer he placed her in the rear of his caged patrol vehicle and began transporting her toward Chico; Balen said Sasek then stopped near a former "worm farm" and left the complainant on Neil (Veil) Road in darkness.

Balen told the board that neither Sasek’s body‑worn camera nor the department’s RIMS (records information management system) application was activated for the transport, that Sasek did not notify dispatch or his sergeant at the moment he left the complainant, and that he did not prepare an incident report documenting the hospital encounter and subsequent transport. The division concluded Sasek’s conduct was an intentional dereliction of duty that placed the complainant at serious risk.

Responde…