San Francisco police officers used excessive force on man they mistakenly arrested, report states

The San Francisco Public Defender's Office Monday called on police leadership and the police commission to act on a findings report that states officers used excessive force during a wrongful arrest in 2024.

The incident took place July 4, 2024, after an officer made a mistake entering a license plate number and believed he had identified a stolen vehicle, the Public Defender's Office said. San Francisco police officers would then proceed to smash the driver's window, drag the driver out and pepper-spray him — actions that a San Francisco Department of Police Accountability (DPA) report states were excessive.

In the driver's seat of the suspected stolen vehicle was Matthew Ludwig. Ludwig was charged with reckless driving and resisting arrest. The Public Defender's Office said the San Francisco District Attorney's Office refused to drop the case even after the mistake came to light.

The Public Defender's Office filed a complaint to the DPA in May 2025 regarding the stop and use of force, and the DPA issued its findings in March of this year.

"The DPA investigated and sustained multiple police abuses that Mr. Ludwig suffered. I call on SFPD leadership and the city's Police Commission to act on these findings and implement every available measure to prevent future misconduct," said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju.

The DA's office ultimately dropped the case, the Public Defender's Office said, after Ludwig died in September of 2025.

"Stopped without justification"

Around 11:30 p.m., officer Vinesh Govindbhai and officer Jonathan Zepeda were near Larkin and Grove streets when they began following a Honda Accord they believed was stolen after Zepeda mistakenly entered the wrong license plate number, a complaint to the DPA states.

The officers followed the vehicle onto O'Farrell Street, saying they had observed the driver run several red lights, the Public Defender's Office said, and parked behind it at a red light.

"Ofc. Govindbhai stopped his car directly behind the Honda so that, practically, it was pinned in from the front and back," the complaint says.

The Public Defender's Office said Govindbhai, without double-checking the plate numbers, walked to the driver's side door and struck the window with his baton four times, smashing the glass.

 "When Ofc. Govindbhai approached the car, he made no realistic attempts to talk to Ludwig—or even order him out of the car—to investigate the moving violation as is ordinary when a person has run a red light," the complaint states.

On the other side of the vehicle, Zepeda, with his gun drawn and "at low ready," told the passengers to get out of the vehicle, which they did, the complaint says. He then went to help detain Ludwig, who was already on the ground. Video of the arrest shows Ludwig being dragged out of the car, thrown onto the ground, and then pepper-sprayed as Govindbhai tries to put Ludwig's arms behind his back. 

In explaining his use of force, Govindbhai, in part, states the neighborhood is known as a "high drug trafficking area" and has "suspects with warrants," the complaint says, which cites officer reports.

"Calling a neighborhood dangerous similarly does not give officers license to smash windows during a traffic stop absent some other justification," the Public Defender's Office writes. "It was, instead, both officers' erroneous belief that the car carried the wrong license plate that supplied the threat. In short, officers' fears were imaginary and exaggerated."

The officers eventually realized they had entered the wrong plate number but still recommended Ludwig be charged with reckless driving and resisting arrest, the complaint states. 

"The complainant stated the driver was stopped without justification," the DPA writes. "The driver was not operating a stolen vehicle, and the officers therefore had no reasonable suspicion to stop him."

"He lost virtually everything"

Ludwig was arrested and booked into jail, and his vehicle was later sold at auction after being impounded, the Public Defender's Office said; days later, the RV he shared with his girlfriend was towed.

Still facing charges of reckless driving and resisting arrest, he was offered diversion by the prosecution as a final deal, the Public Defender's Office said. He died in September of 2025 before the charges were dropped and before the DPA found the officers used unnecessary force and approached him without justification.

"As a result of this, he lost virtually everything that he owned," Deputy Public Defender Brandon Coleman, who represented Ludwig, said. "He told me that he felt like this world lacked compassion for human life and that he had never been given a fair chance in life."

CBS News Bay Area reached out to San Francisco police and were told to contact the city attorney's office, as they cannot speak on pending litigation.

We have also reached out to the DA's office but have yet to hear back.