Lane County

Patricia W. District
PerlowAttorney

LANE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE

125 EAST 8th AVENUE, ROOM 400
EUGENE, OREGON 97401-2926
FAX ONLY (541) 682-3890
(541) 682-4261
Memo To: Lane County Media
From: District Attorney Patty Perlow
Date: December 13, 2019
RE: EPD OIS on November 30, 2019

This is a summary of the results of the investigation by the Interagency Deadly Force
Investigative Team (IDFIT). I have reviewed all reports, watched all videos, spoken with
investigators and the Medical Examiner and have concluded the following:

On November 30, 2019 at 12:32 a.m. – Eugene Police Officer Sam Tykol was travelling
southbound on Norkenzie Street in Northeast Eugene when he observed a subject in dark
clothing from head to foot walking in the road on Acacia Street. Acacia is a two block dead
end road off Norkenzie, just north of the Beltline overpass.

Officer Tykol turned onto Acacia Street, passed the unknown subject, turned around at the
end of the street, and headed back east toward the subject. Officer Tykol parked and exited
his patrol vehicle to contact the subject. Officer Tykol did not activate his overhead lights on
his patrol vehicle, so the in car video system did not activate. Officer Tykol was wearing a
body camera that was activated just prior to the contact with the unknown subject. Officer
Tykol contacted the subject, who was later identified as Elborio Rodrigues, also known as
Elborio Rodriguez, due to the late hour, the dark clothing including a hood and partial mask,
and walking in the roadway. The temperature was in the low 20s. Officer Tykol knew there
had been a number of crimes reported in the area including breaking into vehicles and
burglaries as this area was his regular patrol area.

Officer Tykol contacted Mr. Rodrigues, who would not provide identification or stop to
converse, but grabbed some recycling from someone’s bin at the curbside and put it in a trash
bag he was carrying. Mr. Rodrigues ignored Officer Tykol’s request for identification other
than to say something like, “Have a nice day.” At 12:33.08 a.m., Officer Tykol requested
“code 1 cover” (back-up officers as available, not an emergency). Officer Tykol told Mr.
Rodrigues he was not free to go. Mr. Rodrigues continued to ignore Officer Tykol. Officer
Tykol put his hand on Mr. Rodrigues’s arm and told him to sit on the ground. Mr. Rodrigues
objected to being touched and asked Officer Tykol to call his sergeant. Mr. Rodrigues said
he “might sit down if you call your sergeant.” Officer Tykol said that he would call the
sergeant if Mr. Rodrigues would sit down. At 12:33.57 a.m., Officer Tykol requested “code
3 cover” (lights and siren). Mr. Rodrigues asked if he was being detained. Officer Tykol told
him he was. Mr. Rodrigues began to struggle with Officer Tykol. Mr. Rodrigues was
advised he was under arrest for interfering with a police officer. Officer Tykol attempted to
gain control of Mr. Rodrigues with oral instructions and trying to get his hands behind his
back. Mr. Rodrigues continued to struggle and was advised he would be pepper sprayed.
Officer Tykol pepper sprayed him with no apparent effect. Mr. Rodrigues began to fight and
yell. The physical fight knocked Officer Tykol’s body worn camera off of his uniform and it
shut off when it hit the pavement.
Officer Tykol radioed at 12:34.20 “fighting with one.”

Officer Tykol reported that once Mr. Rodrigues began to fight, he dropped his weight onto
Mr. Rodrigues and was on top of him on Mr. Rodrigues’s back on the ground (Rodrigues was
face down). Officer Tykol was trying to put Mr. Rodrigues’s hands behind his back and put
handcuffs on him. Mr. Rodrigues was able to get free and ran into the roadway. Officer
Tykol chased him. Officer Tykol’s hand mic to his radio came off in the struggle and he was
unable to contact dispatch. Mr. Rodrigues stopped running, turned to Officer Tykol, took a
fighting stance and began punching him. Officer Tykol fought back. He could hear sirens in
the distance and knew help was coming. Mr. Rodrigues broke free and took off again.
Officer Tykol chased. Mr. Rodrigues stopped and Officer Tykol tackled him to the ground
and was on top of him. Mr. Rodrigues continued to punch Officer Tykol and fight until Mr.
Rodrigues was able to flip Officer Tykol and get on top of Officer Tykol and continue to
throw punches to his face and body. Officer Tykol had lost control of the situation and was
concerned that he would lose his pepper spray, his Taser or his gun.

Officer Tykol pulled his Taser out and deployed it at Mr. Rodrigues’s stomach with no
effect. The subject grabbed the barrel of the Taser and drove it into Officer Tykol’s crotch
and then into his leg. Officer Tykol reported that his legs were totally incapacitated at that
point. Officer Tykol said at that point he could tell Mr. Rodrigues was not trying to get
away, but was out to hurt him. Mr. Rodrigues then put the Taser to Officer Tykol’s side as
they continued to struggle over it. Officer Tykol thought the subject was going to kill him.
Officer Tykol reported that he just tried to keep the subject close to him until help arrived,
but the subject was still punching him in the face and body and they continued fighting over
the Taser. Officer Tykol reported that he was completely exhausted and his right arm was
numb from the Taser. Officer Tykol thought Mr. Rodrigues was going to incapacitate him
and then kill him. Officer Tykol slipped out a bit from underneath Mr. Rodrigues to create
enough space to grab his firearm, a Glock G45 nine millimeter. Officer Tykol fired three
times into Mr. Rodrigues’s abdomen, until he stopped fighting and slid enough that Officer
Tykol could get out from under him. Officer Tykol got one of Mr. Rodrigues’s wrists into
handcuffs, but he was still struggling.

Officer Tykol used his radio without a mic to report at 12:36.08 “shots fired.” From time of
reporting “fighting with one” to “shots fired,” approximately two minutes elapsed.
Two officers arrived at that point and helped gain control of Mr. Rodrigues, Eugene Police
Officers Russell and Drumm.

Additional radio traffic:

At 12:36.48 “one in custody.”
At 12:37.15 “shots fired, code 3 medics, 3 shots to abdomen.”

Officer Russell reported that he arrived just after hearing the “shots fired” report on the radio.
He saw Officer Tykol having difficulty getting the subject on the ground into handcuffs.
Officers Russell and Drumm ran to Officer Tykol and assisted getting Mr. Rodrigues into
handcuffs. Mr. Rodrigues was not complying with commands but not actively resisting. Mr.
Rodrigues complained he couldn’t breathe, so the mask was removed from his face. They
rolled him over and found an armed and fired Taser underneath him. Officer Tykol’s radio
was on the ground without a hand mic. Officer Tykol was gasping for air and bent over. Mr.
Rodrigues was bleeding from an apparent gunshot wound to the abdomen and had two Taser
probes in his vest.

Officers tried to contain the bleeding of the wound and took turns performing CPR until
medics arrived. Fire units arrived at the scene at 12:46 a.m. Mr. Rodrigues was declared
deceased at the scene by medics at approximately 12:48 a.m.
The Inter-Agency Deadly Force Investigative Team was dispatched to the scene. Detectives
from the Oregon State Police, the Lane County Sheriff’s Office, and Springfield Police
Department responded. Detectives attempted to contact neighborhood residents within
several blocks of the incident. There were no eye witnesses and only a few people who
reported hearing anything. One person heard yelling before shots were fired. Another heard
something she thought was “get on the ground” before shots were fired, but then said she
couldn’t be sure. A few people reported hearing gunshots but nothing else. Many residents
were gone for the holiday weekend. One resident provided video footage from their Ring
doorbell which showed Mr. Rodrigues walking in the street and Officer Tykol’s patrol
vehicle passing by him.

Detectives photographed the scene and gathered evidence.

IDFIT detectives responded to EPD after Officer Tykol was released from the hospital where
his injuries were checked. Officer Tykol’s uniform was photographed and seized. When he
removed his belt, a small piece of plastic, the “blast door” from the Taser cartridge fell to the
ground. Officer Tykol was noted to have an abrasion and bruising to the forehead, abrasions
to both knees and scuff marks and debris on his uniform shirt and pants. Officer Tykol also
noted for detectives two marks on his left side consistent with a dry stun from a Taser.
Officer Tykol’s firearm was seized, along with all magazines he carried. The round count
was consistent with three shots being fired.

The Taser was located near Rodrigues’s body and ICV footage from the first responding
EPD patrol vehicle showed it was under Rodrigues’s body and moved away by one of the
officers. The probes were attached to Rodrigues clothing but the wire was coiled up,
indicating the Taser was fired from a very close distance.
The history report of Officer Tykol’s Taser was provided and revealed that when deployed,
the Taser is active for five second cycles. On November 30, 2019 at 12:36.15 a.m. and
12.36.21 a.m., the Taser was deployed which is consistent that the probes were fired first and
the “drive-stun” mode was used almost immediately afterward.
The autopsy: The preliminary autopsy report indicates three gunshot wounds to the abdomen
from close range, the first being near contact at the left abdomen and terminating in the tissue
of the right hip (left to right, downward and slightly front to back). A slug was recovered
from the right hip. The second gunshot wound was of intermediate range to the left
abdomen, terminating at the right abdominal cavity. A slug was recovered from the right
abdominal cavity. The third was an intermediate range gunshot wound to the left abdomen,
terminating in the right abdominal cavity where a slug fragment was recovered. The forensic
pathologist also noted minor abrasions of the left and right knees, right leg below the knee
and right lower back.

A preliminary drug screen was positive for methamphetamine, amphetamine, opioids and
THC.

I asked the forensic pathologist if the injuries he noted and the bullet trajectories were
consistent with the description of the incident by Officer Tykol (firing three times with his
right hand into the abdomen of Mr. Rodrigues as Mr. Rodrigues was on top of Officer
Tykol). Dr. Davis told me the injuries were consistent with the report of the incident.
A Taser probe was attached to Mr. Rodrigues’s black fleece jacket, but did not penetrate to
the skin. A second probe was present but unattached. A black glove was on his right hand (a
second glove was found at the scene).

Mr. Rodgrigues’s Oregon Driver’s license was used to identify him by the forensic
pathologist. It lists his birthday as 7/27/1979, height as 5’ 8” and weight as 230 lbs.
Officer Tykol is 5’10” and 180 lbs. He is 27 years old and has been with EPD since
February 22, 2016.

Based upon all of the above, the use of deadly physical force by Officer Tykol was lawful
under the circumstances of fighting for his life.

We expect our local law enforcement officers to keep our neighborhoods safe. Officer
Tykol was engaged in good police work making contact with Mr. Rodrigues under the
circumstances of the late hour, dressed in dark clothing, walking in the street of a
neighborhood. But I hope EPD, and other Lane County law enforcement agencies, will
review this incident and their policies to make sure they are designed to promote the safety of
our officers and citizens when an officer is alone and a citizen who has committed a
pedestrian violation but no observed crime, becomes uncooperative. And I hope our citizens
will recognize that it is never safe to fight with law enforcement and, if you believe that a
stop was unlawful, to raise that issue in a court of law.

Thank you to our law enforcement agencies who participated on the IDFIT for dedicating
personnel who tirelessly put this investigation ahead of other important, pending matters.