The remaining Alameda police officer charged in the death of Mario Gonzalez pleads not guilty

OAKLAND, California – The remaining police officer charged in the 2021 death of Mario Gonzalez pleaded not guilty Friday in Alameda County Superior Court.

Eric McKinley faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter in Gonzalez’s death. The 26-year-old died after being pinned face down to the ground for more than five minutes. At the beginning of this month, a the judge dismissed the charges against two of the officers originally charged in question based on the criminal investigation documents and a technical point of view.

The judge did not dismiss McKinley’s charges on another technicality. The officer was in South Africa doing missionary work at the time the three-year statute of limitations had expired, and was out of the country slightly longer than the other two to press charges.

McKinley’s next appearance is scheduled for Nov. 7 in Alameda County Superior Court.

On April 19, 2021, officers were responding to a call involving a man acting strangely in a public park on Oak Street. Officers then learned that Gonzalez was a suspect in a theft incident and attempted to detain him.

When officers approached him, Gonzalez did not provide identification when asked.

Not having ID is not a crime, but the refusal is what led the officers to hold him on his stomach on the ground.

He died after being restrained in the prone position for several minutes. Last year, his son was awarded an $11 million settlement.

Gonzalez later died at the hospital.

Alameda County Prosecutor Pamela Price reopened the case against three policemen in February last year.