Two San Francisco police officers used excessive force in a 2024 arrest, breaking a car window during a traffic stop and using pepper spray on the driver, according to a report by the San Francisco Department of Police Accountability.
The report, completed in February and released Monday, finds that the officers — identified later in a complaint as Jonathan Zepeda and Vinesh Govindbhai — violated several department policies in the arrest of 48-year-old Matthew Ludwig.
A representative of the SFPD wrote Mission Local that the department is unable to provide a statement at the moment, due to “pending litigation.” According to a representative of the City Attorney’s Office, the city “has not been served with a lawsuit on this matter.” It is unclear if the officers involved have been disciplined.
The arrest occurred on the Fourth of July, 2024, after officers noticed Ludwig driving a Honda Accord in the Tenderloin. The officers entered an incorrect license plate number into their computers, leading them to believe Ludwig was driving a stolen vehicle, according to the Department of Police Accountability report.
After following Ludwig for several blocks, and reportedly seeing him speed and run red lights, Govindbhai exited his police cruiser when the Honda stopped at an intersection on O’Farrell Street, according to a complaint filed by the Public Defender’s Office. Body-camera footage shows an officer who appears to be Govindbhai running to the Honda, smashing its window with a baton and pulling Ludwig to the ground.
According to today’s report, “the officers admitted never attempting a traffic stop of the driver,” not using their lights, siren or any signal to communicate with Ludwig prior to breaking his window.
The footage shows the officer repeatedly telling Ludwig to put his hands behind his back while Ludwig, on the ground, attempts to use his hand to prop himself up.
“Man, I wasn’t doing nothing,” Ludwig can be heard saying at one point. Shortly after, an officer appearing to be Zepeda can be seen arriving, holding Ludwig’s legs while the first officer pepper-sprays Ludwig, discharging the canister inches from Ludwig’s face.
The officers soon discovered that they had entered the wrong license plate number, according to the report, but they still booked Ludwig. He was subsequently charged with resisting arrest and reckless driving by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.
The Department of Police Accountability’s report found that Ludwig’s “reckless driving” charge was unsubstantiated, and the officer fired pepper spray from just inches away from his face. SFPD policy requires pepper spray be discharged from a minimum of 4.5 feet away when directed at a suspect’s face.
The Public Defender’s office represented Ludwig in court, and filed an excessive-force complaint on his behalf in May 2025. Before it could be completed, Ludwig died of undisclosed causes in September 2025. The District Attorney’s Office dropped his felony charges shortly after.
“Nothing justifies the amount of violence that SFPD officers used on Mr. Ludwig, especially when it stemmed from their own mistake,” said Brian Cox, who leads the Public Defender’s Office Integrity Unit.
The District Attorney’s office has not responded to requests for comment.
Zepeda and Govindbhai are still employed by the police department. According to Transparent California, Zepeda and Govindbhai respectively earned $238,824 and $296,140 in total SFPD pay and overtime in 2024.
“The officers involved in this have no idea the harm that their actions caused,” said Deputy Public Defender Brandon Coleman, who represented Ludwig. Because of the arrest, Coleman said, Ludwig’s car was impounded and sold at auction. Days later, according to Coleman, Ludwig lost his remaining property when the RV he shared with his girlfriend was towed.
“As a result of this, he lost virtually everything that he owned,” Coleman 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.”
