Anaheim police release 911 call in the custody death of a homeless man

Anaheim police Monday released a recording of the 911 call that led officers to a 32-year-old homeless man who died following an altercation with police.

Fermin Vincent Valenzuela died Sunday after he was removed from life support at West Anaheim Medical Center, according to Garo Mardirrosian, the attorney representing Valenzuela’s family.

In the 911 recording, the unnamed female caller told a police dispatcher that a man was pacing back and forth in front of the family home near the northwest corner of West Broadway and Magnolia avenues. She described the stranger as Latino, in his late 20s, wearing a tan beanie, a black shirt and black pants with burgundy shoes. She said the man was carrying a blue duffle bag.

“He followed my mom home,” the woman says.

The dispatcher asked the caller if the man looked like he was having “mental issues.”

She responded: “I don’t think so.”

Then the dispatcher asked if Valenzuela appeared to be on drugs. “Doesn’t look like it,” the woman replied.

The call was made to police about 9:15 a.m. on July 2. Near the end of the conversation, the woman told the dispatcher that the man moved away from her home, heading toward some businesses.

Anaheim officers found Valenzuela about 9:20 a.m. inside a self-service laundry, where the father of two struggled with police, refusing to put his hands to his side when they ordered him to do so.

Anaheim Police Chief Raul Quezada said Valenzuela was shot once in the back with a Taser as he fled from the laundry to a 7-Eleven store, where he collapsed and was taken into custody. He said Valenzuela received medical attention when officers noticed he had stopped breathing.

Valenzuela was taken to West Anaheim Medical Center, where he was in a coma until Sunday when he was removed from life support.

Garo Mardirossian, the attorney who is representing Valenzuela’s family, said during a Monday morning news conference that there’s no evidence that Valenzuela was following the woman.

“That was his path to this aunt’s home,” Mardirossian said. “This woman thought that he might be following her and she did the right thing, she called police, it’s OK. It’s the police reaction that is in question.”

Mardirossian said officers used excessive force and shot Valenzuela in the chest with a Taser, which he claims caused Valenzuela’s heart to stop pumping.

Quezada could only confirm that Valenzuela was Tased once in the back and said an investigation would reveal if he had been Tased anywhere else in the body.

Mardirossian said he plans to file a lawsuit against the Anaheim Police Department and the Taser company.

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