Two officers with the San Francisco Police Department spotted what they thought was a stolen car being driven through the city on July 4, 2024. At a red light, one officer rushed out of the patrol car, smashed the driver’s-side window and pulled the driver to the ground.
One officer then pepper-sprayed the driver in the face as another put him in handcuffs.
But the officers had entered the wrong license plate into their computer and didn’t realize their mistake until after the driver, Matthew Ludwig, was in handcuffs, urging them to call an ambulance because he couldn’t breathe, according to an investigation by the San Francisco Department of Police Accountability.
The civilian oversight group said Monday it found that the officers used unnecessary force and violated police policies in the violent arrest.
“Nothing justifies the amount of violence that SFPD officers used on Mr. Ludwig, especially when it stemmed from their own mistake,” said Brian Cox, head of the San Francisco public defender’s office Integrity Unit. “This case shows how easily police can wrongfully target someone, unnecessarily escalate an encounter, and take away that person’s freedom.”
According to the watchdog group, officers sought charges against Ludwig even after they realized the mistake, booking him on charges of reckless driving and resisting arrest. The charges were pending until Ludwig died in an apparent suicide last year, according to authorities.
According to the oversight group, the incident occurred at about 11:30 p.m. when officers spotted Ludwig’s car and entered the wrong plate. They followed Ludwig along O’Farrell Street and, at a red light, police body camera footage of the arrest shows one officer violently remove Ludwig from his car.
“Hands behind your back,” one officer is heard saying as he holds Ludwig’s right arm.
“I wasn’t even doing nothing,” Ludwig is heard saying.
“You’re about to get sprayed,” the officer responds.
Body camera video shows the officer spraying Ludwig at point-blank range. The video later shows an officer pouring water on Ludwig’s face while he lies on the sidewalk in handcuffs.
“Can’t breathe,” Ludwig is heard saying as officers tell him an ambulance is on the way. “I can’t breathe.”
The San Francisco district attorney’s office filed charges against Ludwig based on the officers’ claims, according to the watchdog group, and refused to drop the case until Ludwig died. The Integrity Unit of the San Francisco public defender’s office filed a complaint on his behalf in May 2025.
The watchdog group said that, after his arrest, Ludwig lost his car because it was impounded by police and he was unable to pay the impound fee.
Ludwig still was facing charges on Sept. 11 when he was found dead in a park near a pavilion in Rowan County, Ky., according to the county coroner’s office. Local police said they believed his death was a suicide.
The accountability group is charged with investigating complaints against officers and reports to the San Francisco Police Commission.
The San Francisco Police Department declined to comment on the group’s findings “due to pending litigation.” The department referred questions to the city attorney’s office; a spokesperson said the city had not been served with a lawsuit on the incident and declined to comment.
“The officers involved in this have no idea the harm that their actions caused,” said Deputy Public Defender Brandon Coleman, who represented Ludwig in the criminal case, in a statement. “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.”
