Fresno man who died in police custody was a victim of state-sanctioned homicide
Why is this necessary? Stop suffocating this poor man while telling him he’s fine. Clearly, he’s not.
Those were the thoughts that kept echoing through my head while watching bodycam video of Fresno police officers and Fresno County sheriff’s deputies squash the life from Joseph Perez.
Perez’s death in May 2017, ruled a homicide by the Fresno County Coroner, is a tragedy that could easily have been avoided and cannot be excused as an unfortunate accident. Both the 16-minute version released by attorneys representing Perez’s family in a federal wrongful death, civil rights lawsuit and the 7-minute edit coughed up by the Fresno Police Department under court order vividly depict why we need to overhaul the process by which authorities respond to calls involving the mentally ill or those who might be under the influence of hard drugs.
The 41-year-old husband and father of two, an air conditioning repairman, wasn’t committing any crimes on that fateful Wednesday morning in central Fresno. Nor was Perez wanted for any. The cops that rolled up on him near Palm and Dakota avenues only heard radio chatter about a man “acting strange, running and yelling.”
None of which are against the law, last I checked.
While law enforcement have a sworn duty to protect Perez from injuring himself and potentially others, their actions that morning were callous and egregious.
By the time one of the cops flips on his bodycam (oops, forgot), Perez is being driven face down in the street by the force of another sitting on his back. The victim — yes, that’s the word — can be heard moaning and pleading before he eventually becomes unresponsive.
“I can’t breathe,” Perez says at one point.
“Let me redeem myself,” he begs at another.
“I never touched nobody’s kid, man,” Perez cries, his voice full of pain and confusion.
How did Fresno’s finest respond? By instructing Perez to chill out as they suffocated him. By using their body weight, and then a backboard, to smash Perez against the ground while tying his arms and legs in restraints.
“Just relax, OK,” one of the officers tells him.
“Joseph, I want you to relax,” instructs another.
“I don’t want you to hurt yourself,” one of the deputies says to Perez, seemingly oblivious to the hurt he and his fellow officers were causing.
Perez’s death a state-sanctioned homicide
Again, why was any of this necessary? According to Neil Gehlawat, the attorney representing Perez’s family, seven law enforcement officers were on scene: three Fresno police officers and four sheriff’s deputies.
Joseph Perez was alone and handcuffed. If he were armed or posed any threat to the responding officers, you can be absolutely certain it would not have taken four years for the bodycam footage to surface.
While viewing the video, with hindsight provided by knowing the outcome in advance, you’re left incredulous that no one had the presence of mind to de-escalate the situation.
At a certain point, the officers pinning Perez against the ground could’ve simply stood up. Were they afraid Perez would’ve suddenly attacked all seven of them with his bare hands or charged into traffic? He wasn’t doing any of those things before they arrived.
We don’t get to see Fresno police officers placing Perez into handcuffs. Why couldn’t they have monitored Perez until he either calmed down or came down from his drug high?
The officers repeatedly called Perez by his first name, so they obviously found some form of identification on his person. Why couldn’t they have alerted Perez’s family or driven him less than 2 miles to his home address?
Most importantly, why is there an edict to restrain people whose only “crime” is acting strangely in the street, using whatever force necessary, and stuff them into an ambulance?
That’s not policing — it’s state-sanctioned assault that escalated into homicide. When the Fresno Police Department, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, the city of Fresno’s Office of Independent Review and the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office all find the officers’ actions justified and within policy, there’s no other conclusion to draw.
Latest black eye for Fresno PD
On top of that, the edited and captioned version of the video contains a baffling statement from former Police Chief Andy Hall that noted the levels of methamphetamine found in Perez’s system.
“Despite Mr. Perez’s personal struggles, it saddens all of us when a life is lost,” Hall says.
Despite? Fresno police feel less sadness and regret when their actions lead to the death of a drug user? Good to know.
Why is Hall even involved? He wasn’t chief, interim or otherwise, in May 2019. Perez’s death occurred under Jerry Dyer’s watch. I’d much rather have heard from Fresno’s current mayor and 18-year police chief than some placeholder who received a bumped-up pension.
Dyer’s remorse would’ve certainly sounded more sincere.
You also have to wonder what Paco Balderrama, Fresno’s new chief as of January, thinks about all this. One would hope he wasn’t blindsided — the federal lawsuit has been hanging around since 2018, after all.
This incident, the latest in a string that have resulted in needless deaths and millions of damages, comes at a time when public safety in Fresno is being scrutinized and reimagined like never before. Now those old wounds have been reopened.
If Balderrama is smart (and I believe he is), he won’t let this happen again. By that I mean get out in front of stories that damage his department’s reputation. Rather than hide behind bad policy, admit and apologize for obvious mistakes. Clear every skeleton from the closet, absorb all the negative publicity at once and begin anew.
Police reform? It must start from within.
This story was originally published March 9, 2021 at 12:02 PM.
