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Miles Armstead's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Oakland Police Department after they allegedly let a squatter chase Miles and shoot him to death. According to the lawsuit, the family had complained to Oakland PD about the squatter, identified as Jamal Thomas. However, the police allegedly didn't pay too much attention to the matter.
The squatter, Jamal Thomas, allegedly squatted in the house next to Armstead's in 2019 and 2020. He threw rocks at Miles Armstead’s residence and even threatened to burn down the latter's house. Reportedly, the Armstead family called the police as many as 23 times within six months to report Jamal. The tragic incident of Armstead's death took place on May 1, 2020, when Jamal allegedly chased Miles down and shot him.
The lawsuit against the Oakland PD further claimed that the violent squatter suffered from several mental health issues.
The Oakland Police Department arrested Jamal but released him soon after
As mentioned earlier, Miles Armstead was shot to death by a squatter named Jamal Thomas, who was squatting in Armstead's neighbor's house. At the time of his death, Miles was in the yard of his recently-sold house when Thomas ambushed him.
As Armstead tried to flee the scene, he was shot to death by Jamal in front of the former's pregnant wife and three children. The lawsuit stated that Armstead was cleaning up the yard of the house that he had sold in fear of Thomas. That was when the squatter ambushed him, chased him, and shot him to death.
The suit added that Thomas was suffering from some mental health issues that led to him behaving in a violent, uncontrollable manner.
According to the family, they had reported Jamal several times to the Oakland Police Department, but they didn't pay too much attention to the situation. The harassment of the family began in November 2019, when Jamal allegedly banged on the door of the family’s residence and also attempted to break in.
The family has reached out to Oakland police more than twenty times to report the situation. While officers visited the scene a few times, they claimed that they were overworked and understaffed and that the situation wasn't one of their high priorities.
The lawsuit against the OPD further stated that an officer told the family that they were behaving like "12-year-old girls."
According to lawyers, since police did not provide much heed to it and failed to take necessary action, Thomas Jamal ended up killing the father of four.
It was further revealed that Miles Armstead was working at Fremont Bank as a wealth management banker. He purchased that home in 2017, at 2901 76th Avenue in Oakland.
The disturbance in the Oakland household began around two years after they shifted there. According to the lawsuit against the OPD, Jamal was a neighbor and he began a “relentless campaign of terror and harassment” against the Armstead family. He used to break their windows and hurl verbal abuse at the family.
In 2020, Jamal was arrested for a brief period after he made threats to the Armstead family. However, the police released him shortly after. The lawsuit mentioned that the probation officers did not follow up with Jamal, although it was a major part of his “pretrial supervised released conditions.” The probation officers have been sued in the lawsuit as well along with the Oakland PD.
Jamal pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him
The lawsuit further stated:
“Mr. Thomas terrorized the Armsteads with broken windows, verbal threats, and physical attacks, and eventually killed Mr. Armstead due to the failures of the Oakland Police Department.”
Upon investigation, it was revealed that Thomas Jamal, 46, was evicted along with his family from his long-time residence in August 2019. Despite the eviction, Jamal returned as a squatter around two months later. The banging on the door began in 2019, and according to the lawsuit it was one of the first incidents. It stated,
“The Armsteads faithfully called and reported the incidents to the police. Nevertheless, defendant officers working for the Oakland Police Department failed to make an arrest, detain, and/or curb the behavior.”
The Armstead's family lawyer Adante Pointer said:
“Thomas was purportedly on the highest level of supervised release, yet they turned a blind eye to supervising him, granting him the leeway and the confidence to continue menacing the frightened family with impunity.”
A restraining order was also filed against Jamal, however, the family states that due to the OPD’s alleged way of handling the situation, Miles Armstead lost his life. Thomas Jamal is currently being held in Dublin’s Santa Rita Jail and also faces assault and murder charges.
According to The Sacramento Bee, Jamal pleaded not guilty to the charges. His court appearance is scheduled for Friday. It was mentioned that a wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the Alameda County probation officers as well as the OPD.
