{"id":429984,"date":"2026-08-11T19:02:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T19:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/429984\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T19:02:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T19:02:11","slug":"report-finds-san-francisco-police-officers-used-unnecessary-force-in-2024-arrest-of-matthew-ludwig-after-license-plate-error","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/429984\/","title":{"rendered":"Report finds San Francisco police officers used unnecessary force in 2024 arrest of Matthew Ludwig after license plate error"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — A San Francisco police accountability report found that two SFPD officers used unnecessary force and violated department policies during the 2024 arrest of Matthew Ludwig, prompting the Public Defender’s Office to seek further investigation.<\/p>\n

Body-camera video from the incident shows officers breaking Ludwig’s car window, pulling him from the vehicle and pepper-spraying him before arresting him.<\/p>\n

Seconds after a baton shattered his car window and officers dragged him from the vehicle, Ludwig questioned why he was being arrested saying, “I didn’t do nothing bro.”<\/p>\n

One of the officers then pepper sprayed him at close range.<\/p>\n

According to Brian Cox of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office Integrity Unit, the incident began after officers incorrectly entered Ludwig’s license plate information into a police system.<\/p>\n

“Mr. Ludwig was driving in San Francisco streets, and officers entered his license plate information into their systems, but they entered the data incorrectly,” Cox said. “And so, they had the idea that, okay, the license plate doesn’t match the car. The car must be stolen.”<\/p>\n

MORE: Lawyer alleges excessive force in Fairfield officer beating of high school student<\/a><\/p>\n

Nearly two years after the arrest, the San Francisco Department of Police Accountability determined that the two officers involved used “unnecessary force” and “violated department policy or procedure.”<\/p>\n

Cox said Ludwig continued to face consequences even after officers realized their initial mistake.<\/p>\n

“He had to bear the cost of officer’s mistake even after they realized they had made a mistake,” Cox said. “They’re like, well, we’re going to charge him with resisting arrest. The resisting arrest is based on him asking officers, hey, calm down.”<\/p>\n

The report cited multiple policy violations, including the use of pepper spray.<\/p>\n

“The minimum distance for spraying pepper spray at someone’s face is 4.5 feet. The evidence showed that the officer sprayed at least four feet less than the minimum distance,” Cox said, describing the officers’ conduct as severe. “This is exceptionally egregious. I don’t know that officers who engage in this kind of casual violence should be doing that job.”<\/p>\n

MORE: Family seeks answers after 30-year-old San Francisco PD recruit dies in training exercise<\/a><\/p>\n

Ludwig’s vehicle was towed and impounded following the arrest. He was unable to pay the fees required to retrieve it, and the city later auctioned the vehicle.<\/p>\n

Ludwig died in 2025 before the Department of Police Accountability released its findings.<\/p>\n

The Public Defender’s Office is now calling for additional review by city oversight agencies.<\/p>\n

“We’re seeking a full and complete investigation,” Cox said. “The department police Accountability finished their piece, and now we’re looking to the San Francisco Police Commission and CPD to finish it. And to give Mr. Ludwig a measure of justice.”<\/p>\n

ABC7’s data team reviewed allegations of unnecessary use of force involving the San Francisco Police Department over the past three years and found 15 complaints in 2025, four in 2024 and six in 2023.<\/p>\n

The San Francisco Police Department declined to comment on Ludwig’s case.<\/p>\n

“Due to pending litigation, we are precluded (from) providing a statement at this time,” the department said.<\/p>\n

It remains unclear whether the officers involved faced any disciplinary action. The findings will next be considered by the San Francisco Police Commission, where potential disciplinary decisions could be made.<\/p>\n

\"Now<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — A San Francisco police accountability report found that two SFPD officers used unnecessary force…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":429985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[171004,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-429984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-171004","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}