SCPD officer Erik Bailey named as killer of Sean Arlt; DA won't press charges

On the evening of Sean Arlt's killing, SCPD Officer Erik Bailey was sent to a house on Chace Street in Santa Cruz after residents called for help and reported a disturbance at the home. Arlt, who suffered from mental illness, was allegedly the source of that disturbance.

Bailey and three other officers confronted Arlt, who was outside the house allegedly holding a garden rake in a threatening manner. Officers say they tried to tase Arlt, but it didn't work, and 20 seconds after first confronting him Bailey shot and killed Arlt. Arlt never made physical contact with the officers or anyone in the house.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports that DA Jeff Rosell said there is no precedent for a garden rake being used in a court of law as a deadly weapon, but that his office still made the determination not to press charges against Bailey because the tool could be used in a threatening manner, he said.

Erik Bailey was sworn in as an officer by Santa Cruz Chief of Police Kevin Vogel on May 1, 2015. Erik Bailey's father, Mark Bailey, was a 26-year veteran of the Santa Cruz Police Department himself, and his son was assigned his same badge number of #146 to use.

Erik Bailey was 25 when he was sworn in. Eric previously worked at Safeway in Aptos. Erik also serves in the United States Marine Corps Reserve as a radio operator.