Former deputy acquitted in 2019 death of man following chase

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) — A former Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy has been as acquitted of involuntary manslaughter and assault by a peace officer in the 2019 death of a man after a high-speed chase. The San Francisco Chronicle reports a jury on Wednesday found former Sonoma County Sheriff’s Deputy Charles Blount not guilty in the death of 52-year-old David Ward. Ward died after a struggle with the deputy, who put him in a neck hold. Harry Stern, Blount’s attorney, said the verdict proves jurors agreed with evidence that showed Ward was in extraordinarily frail health and had consumed a toxic amount of methamphetamine.