The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office is calling the death of a St. Pete man after a struggle with police an “excusable homicide.”
Sheriff Bob Gualtieri on Monday released the findings of an investigation into use of force by the St. Petersburg Police Department that led to the death of 48-year-old Brian Pepal.
On the morning of Saturday, Aug. 22, officers Tammy Craig, 56, and Daniel Poveda, 44, responded to a home on 5th Street N near 73rd Avenue for reports that Pepal was having a mental health crisis.
Gualtieri explained that Pepal was banging on doors in the neighborhood and stating he was looking for pedophiles. He also threatened to cut his neighbor’s head off with a machete, according to the sheriff.
Body-worn camera video played during Monday’s news conference showed the physical struggle that ensued when officers Craig and Poveda approached Pepal outside the home.
The video shows Pepal throwing punches at both officers and pushing them into a car parked in the driveway before they deployed Tasers on him.
Pepal can be heard saying, “help!” as the officers brought him to the ground and continued tasing him.
“Get on your stomach!” Officer Craig yelled as Pepal flipped over to be face down.
The sheriff said Pepal continued to be uncooperative as the officers held him face down, worked to get his hands behind his back and placed him in handcuffs.
The officers can then be seen holding Pepal’s legs as he remained on his stomach. He was held in the same position until officers realized he was unresponsive.
According to Sheriff Gualtieri, officers performed CPR until EMS arrived and transported Pepal to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Brian Pepal’s cause of death
The medical examiner determined the manner of death to be homicide and the cause of death to be traumatic asphyxiation with contributing conditions of restraint, coronary atherosclerosis, obesity and schizophrenia, the sheriff said.
“Now, I want to really make this as clear as I can for everybody, is that homicide and murder are defined differently under the law,” Gualtieri said.
He added that homicide is “when somebody dies at the hands of another, which in this case were the lawful acts of the St. Petersburg Police Department officers in defending themselves and taking Pepal into custody.”
Gualtieri said that both the sheriff’s office and the state attorney’s office determined that Pepal’s death was an “excusable homicide under the law.”
According to the sheriff, Pepal had a history of mental health issues, including being diagnosed with schizophrenia 10 years ago. Gualtieri said he was also Baker Acted twice, once in 2025 after threatening neighbors and once in April 2026 after chasing passing cars and yelling at people to “come and get me.”
Sheriff Gualtieri emphasized that this was an “extremely violent fight” and that the officers were defending themselves against Pepal.
“As far as I’m concerned, they did everything 100% right,” the sheriff said. “You’re just doing what you can to protect yourself… they’re just really trying to survive in that situation.”
Officer Craig has been with the St. Pete Police Department since 2005, while Officer Poveda was sworn in in 2007. Police Chief Anthony Holloway confirmed that both officers have been medically cleared to return to duty but that the department still needs to complete their review to make sure all policies were in compliance.