Merced lounge suspect now in custody; attorney says police were ‘irresponsible’

Deputies arrested the robbery suspect Merced police say was in a downtown hookah lounge the night of a chaotic and violent confrontation with police, triggering protests in the days that followed, according to the Merced County Sheriff’s Office.

Bryant Brown, 23, of Merced, was arrested inside the Merced County Superior Courthouse on Thursday, when he was scheduled for a court hearing, according to Deputy Daryl Allen.

Police have said they were looking for Brown inside Chandelier’s Hookah Lounge & Smoke Shop on Main Street on July 9 before police arrested five college students, including a UC Merced student. Police said they attempted to serve a warrant shortly after midnight to arrest Brown.

Police say an officer was injured, and club-goers say multiple college students were injured.

Police knew Brown was at the party because of a post on social media, according to Merced Capt. Chris Goodwin. A post from Brown’s Facebook page on July 10 appears to show a video of him dancing with several other people, and photos of him posing with others near the lounge’s purple furniture on the night before.

Part of the melee was captured on a cellphone video that since has gone viral on the Internet. The video shows several police officers with stun weapons pointed at people, several club patrons being placed in handcuffs, and shouting between officers and the crowd. The clip also shows Officer Joseph Opinski turn and fire a round at one man from an anti-riot weapon, which police have described as a “sage weapon.”

The hookah lounge incident set off a protest that involved mostly UC Merced students, who chanted and marched on campus, along G Street and in front of the 22nd Street police station.

Accounts have differed related to the lounge incident, with police saying they reacted with force after meeting an aggressive crowd while several students have said they witnessed an officer throw the first punch, striking a student in the face.

Merced police arrested Isa Bey, 22, a UC Merced student from Oakland, and his brothers Nedir, 20; Yakub, 24; and Majied, 21. Officers also arrested Ciasonne Olajuwon Ratto-Foster, 20, a cousin of the Beys.

Mark T. Harris, a Sacramento-based attorney representing the Bey family, took issue with the Merced police in a video posted this week on YouTube.

Harris, who did not respond to telephone calls seeking comment said in the video that police treated party-goers “irresponsibly and completely unfairly.”

In the video, Harris said the party was a celebration of students pursuing a higher education. He said there were no reports of complaints about the party being excessively loud, nor reports of drunkenness or drug use.

Police entered the party without explaining why they arrived, Harris said, and “glared” at the students. Several party-goers, too, have told the Sun-Star police did not explain why they were in the lounge.

Harris said a student with her back to police bumped an officer inside the club.

According to Harris, the unnamed officer responded by saying: “‘Get the f--- off me, (N-word),’ and all hell broke loose.”

Capt. Bimley West said the investigation is ongoing and officers are asking anyone with more video of the incident to contact police. Detectives will take a thorough look at the “beginning, middle and end” of the lounge incident, he said.

“We’re looking at the conduct of the officers in the incident. We’re looking at the conduct of the all of the citizens that were there,” he said. “We want to see who did things right and who did things wrong, and try to work our way through the process.”

Students were injured after police punched them and deployed Tasers, Harris said. “They’ve been physically, mentally and emotionally abused through this incident,” he said.

Police have said two people involved in the melee were examined by medical staff but said there were no significant injuries to anyone in the crowd. Officer Raymond Valadez, who has been with the department for two years, suffered injuries to his face and head and was taken to a hospital, police said.

Goodwin said Merced police do not intend to comment further on the incident until the investigation is wrapped up.

Brown was arrested on suspicion of robbery, kidnapping and a violation of his probation, according to jail records.. He is being held at John Lotaracca Correctional Facility in lieu of $150,000 in bail.

This story has been corrected from an earlier version.

This story was originally published July 21, 2017 at 5:22 PM with the headline "Merced lounge suspect now in custody; attorney says police were ‘irresponsible’."