Florentine Floats To Surface of Bowl

Jersey is closer than you think...

Here’s a damn funny letter sent into the Fullerton Observer by clever wordsmith Anthony “Big Tony” Florentine,  a local “family friendly” bar owner and notorious rules-dodger. He has hundreds of thousands of reasons to support his corrupt pals on the City Council since they turned a blind eye to his illegal night club operation and then actually subsidized a fire sprinkler main so he could keep liquoring up the cast of Doc HeeHaw’s Wild West Show.

You may also recall how Big Tony even managed to swipe a public sidewalk with the help of his pals on the city council – probably the most blatant swindle in the history of Fullerton.

Florentine has been giving the Three Dyspeptic Dinosaurs campaign contributions for years and years, so these profitable quid pro quos shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody. But it sure makes it hard to believe this cut rate Tony Soprano’s sincerity when he says anybody else on the planet is “full of shit.”

The best part of his letter is how this cheap bastard bamboozles The Observer into giving him a free ad for his place of business. Anyway, here is Florentine’s letter:

I was at Smart & Final several weeks ago where Tony Bushala was sitting at a card table soliciting signatures for the recall. I greeted him, shook his hand, and told him I thought he was full of s**t, and that what he was doing to our City was BS.

I offered that his only interest in this tragedy is to get control of the City Council so he can foist development projects that may be of questionable value. Whereupon he lost it and went berserk, which he is wont to do when one disagrees with him.

My expletives were not meant to insult him (I’m sure that would be hard to do), I used language I knew he could understand and that described his condition and the content of his actions.

There was no one outside Joe Florentine’s restaurant soliciting signatures, and no one who came outside and spit on anyone. If that had been the case why wouldn’t they have called the Fullerton P.D., identified the person and had them arrested for assault?

The whole story is another Bushala-inspired fabrication meant to discredit someone he doesn’t like.

By the way Florentines’ has a delicious new value added menu with large portions and a family friendly atmosphere. Try it. You’ll like it.

Anthony J. “Tony” Florentine
Fullerton

Yo, T!

The Gift That Keeps Giving

A Friend, Jim Cameron, writes in:

Here’s a riddle: Which OC Police Department met with a citizen who, after leaving police HQ, plowed into three parked cars?

Well, if you liked to bet and didn’t mind a scant payoff, you’d almost immediately say the Fullerton Police Department, of course.

It seems as if one Robert Ghanadian, was at the FPD station on Wednesday afternoon, meeting with a cop in the traffic division about some prior accident. While the details of this encounter remain something of a mystery, what is perfectly clear is that Mr. Ghanadian was impaired by some kind of intoxication when he sideswiped three vehicles on the south side of Commonwealth Avenue, one of which belongs to Ron Thomas, the father of FPD murder victim Kelly Thomas. An eye-witness claims Ghanadian came from the police station.

Honestly, you couldn’t make this stuff up.

What makes this story particularly ironic is the way one FPD apologist earlier in the day defended the illegal arrest of innocent citizens on unsubstantiated charges of public intoxication based on possible risk to the City.  Did the FPD let an impaired Ghanadian get behind the wheel of his SUV and motor off ignoring risk to the public? If so, he didn’t get far.

Maybe it was a pro-FPOA decal that did the trick. Who knows? But one thing I do know is that we are all lucky Ghanadian didn’t kill anybody.

Intoxicated Dude Smashes Into Ron Thomas’ Car

In a rather bizarre incident yesterday afternoon a Fullerton resident named Robert Ghanadian suddenly careened his SUV into several parked cars along the south side of the 100 block of West Commonwealth. One of the cars belonged to Ron Thomas, father of FPD murder victim Kelly Thomas, who happened to be attending some sort of community meeting hosted by Sharon Quirk-Silva at Steamers Cafe.

Apparently the guy demonstrated signs of intoxication and failed a field sobriety test.

All sorts of cops showed up, supposedly to make sure that this wasn’t some sort of deliberate attempt to harm Ron Thomas. O the solicitude! Ron seemed satisfied by this explanation of concern for his welfare, however at least one eye-witness says Ghanadian’s vehicle sported some sort of police decal and appeared to come from the police department headquarters down the street.

Ron's SUV pushed into a tree. The guy in the blue shirt is being given a sobriety test

It certainly seems too coincidental to be characterized as sinister. I am in the process of getting some video from the scene, and I will try to shed some more light on this incident.

The Joyride from Hell: Another Victim of Fullerton Police Violence Comes Forward

Obey me and you won't get hurt. Well, scratch that. You're gonna get hurt anyway...

The systemic pattern of abuse that defines the Fullerton Police Department is well-established.  But the allegations detailed in this newly emerging case might give even hardened FFFF readers pause. There seems to be no end to accounts of thuggish, sadistic Fullerton cops getting their sick jollies by brutalizing innocent citizens.

Fullerton College student and Fullerton resident Christopher Spicer Janku, 23 at the time, was with 4 friends around 1:30 AM on the night of August 17, 2008 when the car one of them was driving was pulled over for purportedly running a stop sign on Wilshire Avenue, in Downtown Fullerton.  Chris tells his story:

All rookie looking officers who were looking for fun, I’ve never heard so much rude language from any cop. They arrested me on false charges of being drunk in public, (even though they wouldn’t give me a sobriety test even after I asked them to give me one because they knew I wasn’t intoxicated). I was sitting on the curb with my hands behind my back, a cop came over to put hand cuffs on me, he told me to put my hands behind my back, but they already were.  Before I could even say “officer my hands are already crossed behind my back” the officer grabbed my neck and slammed my face into the curb while yelling out “stop resisting!”  Another officer grabbed me by the legs and dragged me by the knees, shredding my knee caps.

There were five officers at the scene. The gangleader and arresting office was one Officer Perry Thayer.  Janku goes on to describe his torture at the hands of this dedicated public servant:

Another officer then TOOK HIS BOOT and slammed it on my head, pinning it between the curb and used it as leverage to squeeze pressure on my head. I HONESTLY THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE, I WAS SCREAMING PLEASE STOP I’M NOT RESISTING, I THOUGHT MY HEAD WAS GOING TO CAVE IN. I still have migraines to this day. another cop came over and dropped kneed me in the back. Everybody watching was in awe, THEY KEPT YELLING OUT “PLEASE STOP, HE’S NOT RESISTING!”

He (Thayer) was the one who slammed me face first into a curb and then put my head in the gutter face first with his boot on my head.  He purposely put my face into a gutter full of disgusting dirty gutter water to the point where I was almost choking on it, and pushed down on my head to the point where my head almost caved it and I was screaming for my life. If you look at my mug shot, there is nothing but dirty, muddy gutter water and blood all over my face.

Next, our helpful Bobbies – Officer Thayer and his partner Officer Anthony Diaz – took Janku on a joyride from hell. Chris explains:

They put me in the squad car without seatbelting me in and went on a joy ride while blaring satanic heavy metal music in my ear until my eardrums almost exploded.  Around 6-7 times they would hit the gas and then slam on the brakes, so that I was forced to keep cracking my face on the cage.

FFFF readers will recall that although clearly unconstitutional, this is a common FPD procedure, informally known as a “screen test.” Spicer remembers seeing the car pass the Police station, and asked the cops where they were taking him. Their response:  “Shut the F up.”  After the brake-checks:

I came to the department and automatically filed a complaint about the brutality. They put me in a jail cell bleeding from my head down to my feet and bruised and battered WITHOUT EVEN GIVING ME MEDICAL AID.

Janku was unable to figure out what exactly had set Thayer off.  Maybe when he asked Thayer to not thumb through the photos on his cell phone?  Or perhaps this cretinous goon needs no excuse to assault, batter, and violate the civil rights of the taxpayers who pay his ample salary?  Janku’s friend was arrested as well, for simply asking for his ID back from the cops who had taken and failed to return it.

As for the police brutality complaint?   A complete and total stonewall.  The detective in charge deliberately misinterpreted the clear audio recording of Janku’s friends yelling “he’s not resisting!” and asked him “why were you resisting?”  He also had the temerity to ask Janku why he had blood and mud all over his face.

After checking regularly for months and getting no response, Janku was told recently that he had better contact an attorney.  Of course, this is after the statute of limitations had run out and a lawsuit is impossible.  What is Janku left with, besides the bruises and migraines?  Just the awful memories:

I’ve been afraid to go outside my house ever since, I have nightmares and panic attacks from the injustice.

Janku adds that he is unwilling to go to downtown Fullerton since the incident, and one of his friends there that evening is so terrified he refuses to set foot in Fullerton, period.  Way to help out our local economy, coppers!

#66 Perry Thayer

Unlike the marginally more fortunate Veth Mam and Edward Quinonez, Janku is unable to sue the City and make them pay for their abuses.  And Officer Thayer?  Why, he went on to win the coveted Turkey Bowl police football championship along with his buds – the noted false arrest/perjury specialists Kenton Hampton and Frank Nguyen, of Veth Mam lawsuit fame.

Just another night of death-metal mayhem, beating, torture, false arrest, and random abuse of the public by Fullerton’s Finest. No pattern to see here, folks. Move along, now. No need for that department-wide Department of Justice investigation of police brutality and misconduct.  Keep moving.

Oh, and yeah, let’s be careful out there.

Uh, Oh. More Bad News for FPD

I stand by my record. And no, you 91 voters don't get to take your votes back.

For a while it was just us, the good folks at FFFF, who decried the Fullerton Police Department Culture of Corruption created by ex-Chief Pat McKinley, and fostered by council somnambulists Don Bankhead and Dick Jones.

Tracy Woods at The Voice of OC is reporting here, that the City’s outside investigator, Michael Gennaco, has revealed that his investigation will uncover more nasty revelations. Cue ominous background music in a minor key:

Asked if more disclosures are coming, he replied, “Oh, yeah. There’s more. There always is.”

Given the likelihood that Mr. Gennaco is trying to break it to us gently, I’d say things look grim for FPD defenders and its cover-up artists, and of course things look even worse for us taxpayers who will ultimately have to foot the bill for former Chief McKinley’s out of control goon squad.

Did Fullerton Cops Target Chris Norby?

By the way, who are you and whom do you represent?

Last April I wrote this look back at what sure seemed like monkey business on the part of FPD spokesorifice Andrew Goodrich. Knowing what we know now about the lawless way that FPD operates when so inclined, the idea that they leaked potentially embarrasing information about someone they considered a political enemy is in no way surprising.

Many have wondered how Goodrich, after having failed to tell a single truth at any juncture of the Kelly Thomas murder epsiode, kept his job. The obvious answer is that the City Council, the City Manager, and the Acting Chief think he is doing a good job.

It could also be that because the estimable Goodrich is an officer in the police union they don’t have the guts to take this valuable piece of manpower and put him back on the street.

– Joe Sipowicz

The other day, our Travis Kiger engaged in a comical e-mail exchange with Fullerton PD’s $130,000 per year spokesperson, Sergeant Andrew Goodrich. Here it is:

Read the whole email

Note that according to Goodrich, FPD policy is that the police log book may be perused at the station – but not copied. When unexpectedly queried as to how the Voice of OC(EA) managed to get a copy of a domestic dispute entry involving Assemblyman Chris Norby last September, the good Sergeant noted that it was due to the “constant” requests they had from the media. Hmm. Well, that makes so little sense that we may as well backtrack to review what happened. Something ain’t quite kosher. In fact a smell is emanating from this pile of Goodrich road apples.

Last fall, 72nd Assemblyman Chris Norby seems to have gotten into an argument with his wife. Some sort of delivery person, adventitiously arriving at the front door of Casa Norby, called the cops, who arrived, took a statement, and left. The date of the incident was September 2nd.

The Voice of OC(EA) finally got around to posting about the issue, here, on September 27 – almost four weeks after the fact. The Register followed up with a story a couple of days later. Other than that, general media silence. Wow, Andy, what a feeding frenzy!

Now that we know Goodrich’s excuse for violating FPD policy is nonsense, we are entitled to ask why Goodrich was so cavalier about passing out copies of the log – against policy; and further, we ought to ask how and why the Norby episode came to light at all.

Note that the report posted by the Voice of OC(EA) was time stamped September 20, seven days before it was published. This means that they either sat on the story for seven days, or they received the document several days after it was printed. Hmm. And remember, according to Goodrich, the log is regularly purged.

Although it is possible that the Voice took a week to getting around to publishing its story, is it at all likely that an intrepid Voice reporter came across an FPD log entry in the course of his typical day’s toil? Or is it a whole Hell of a lot more likely that an employee of the Fullerton Police Department, growing tired of waiting for some lucky journalist to discover what would surely be an embarrassment for Norby, leaked it to a pro-union news source?

Mr. Goodrich could help clear this up by sharing his records of media requests for this information, and explain the date on the printout.

Of course it is possible that some other party reading the log came across the item, recognized Norby’s address, and passed it on to the Voice;  but that would be supported by pretty long odds.

In any case, there certainly is an object lesson here for all of us, Friends. Privacy seems to be selectively practiced by the Fullerton Police Department. And mostly it is not practiced to protect the public – but them.

The Bill Of Indictment

This outstanding comment was posted by “Simmons” yesterday in response to the bizarre letter to the acting police chief from somebody purporting to be the brother of Jay Cicinelli.

I strongly recommend that somebody simply copy this comment and read it at the next City Council. All of it, but especially 11A-o. Watch the resistance wilt. Oh, yeah: quit screaming and hit them with the truth.

#11 by Simmons on October 8, 2011

Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but these FPD officers will never be punished by the justice system.

The fix is in regarding the upcoming Fullerton Police murder trials for killing Kelly Thomas.

Unfortunately, the powers that be appear to have conspired with the POLICE UNION to protect these police officers and the police union.

Let us review the facts and I believe that you will tend to agree with me.

THE MURDER

1. It appears the call from a local BAR owner was faked to give the FPD a reason to arrest Kelly. Thus, even the initial stated reason for approaching this “aggressive pedestrian”” is suspect. Side note: If so, the citizens of Fullerton should see to it that this BAR is closed – one way or another.

2. Six FPD officers took part in the murder; apparently two took a bigger part than the other four.

3. Ramos punched Kelly several times in the ribs, tackled Kelly and used his hands to hold Kelly’s NECK and used his body weight to hold Kelly down.

4. Wolfe, who was not charged, also punched Kelly 3 or 4 times, kneed him in the head, and used his body weight to hold Kelly down.

5. Cincinelli arrived and kneed Kelly twice in the head, used his Taser 4 times to shock Kelly, and used the front of the Taser like a club to hit Kelly in the FACE 8 times while Kelly was pinned to the ground and could not move or protect himself; Notably, Kelly did not respond to the clubbing by Cincinelli but that did not stop these animals.

6. A growing pool of blood did not stop the beating.

CAUSE OF DEATH

7. Yet, the official cause of death, according to the corner, is “mechanical compression of the thorax making it impossible to breath normally”; Really !!!! Interesting as will be discussed below.

8. In contrast, the UIC Documents stated that Kelly Thomas died of Blunt Force Trauma to the head (“brain death” due to “head trauma” due to “Assault”). MRI demonstrated diffused supratentorial gray matter infarction consistent with diffused anoxic brain injury.

9. Notably, diffused anoxic injury can be caused by either breathing problems (corner’s selection) or brain acceleration (UIC Documents – from Dr. who treated Kelly). (Note: diffused anoxic brain injury is usually by vehicular accident but can also be caused by head trauma from a beating). This is important as I believe the powers that been in this case have manipulated the selection of the “cause of death” for reasons described below.

THE POLICE REPORTS – Culture of Corruption

10. The Police were allowed watched a video of the incident to craft their reports; reports that had to be rewritten several times even after the video was used. This made sure the reports were consistent with each other.

11. There is apparently a culture of corruption at the FPD including police officers that have been described/be charged as pickpockets, thieves, sexual predators, kidnappers, thugs, and murderers . . . all hired by former Fullerton Police Chief and now city council member Pat McKinley.

A: Albert Rincon – allowed to serially sexually assault women in the back of his patrol car. Actions known to FPD management but nothing was done.

B: FPD police officer — sentenced to jail for fraud to support his pill habit.

C: FPD police officer — arrested in Miami airport for iPad theft.

D: FPD police officer — who smashed recording device on jail wall to avoid complicity in jail suicide.

E: FPD police officers — beating up and falsely arresting Veth Mam.

F: FPD police officers — lying on the witness stand about Veth Mam.

G: FPD police officer — beating up and falsely arresting Edward Quinonez.

H: FPD police officer — sexually assaulting a dozen women in the backseat of his patrol car, with recording device turned off.

I: FPD police officers — issuing traffic citations to harass protesters.

J: FPD police officers — ambushing and murdering a helpless homeless man.

K: FPD police officers — turning off recording devices during murder.

L: FPD police officers — colluding to falsify reports about said murder.

M: FPD superior officers — coaching said falsification and returning to street of said miscreants.

N: FPD police officer — spokeshole deliberately issuing lies to the media to misdirect, temporize, stall and otherwise obscure said murder and cover up.

O) FPD police officer — arrests Emmanuel Martinez by mistake (or on purpose) and he spends 5 months in jail. (why did the FPD and union thugs not help his aggressive pedestrian make bail?)

As for City Leaders – councilmembers insulting protesters as “lynch-type mob”; councilmembers discounting injuries of murder victim.

12. The FPD appears to be run by UNION THUGS, as seems apparent when several Kelly Thomas protestors (aggressive driver) were ticked (by a head union thug) for blowing their car horn in support of Kelly Thomas.

13. While the DA’s job is to protect the people (aka aggressive pedestrians when walking) by prosecuting criminals, in the Kelly Thomas case, the DA has been described as being on the side of the police, who are the criminals in this case, not the people. The DA has even been described as engaging in preemptive surrender before the investigation is complete.

14. Even with help from the video tape to “get their story straight”, the FPD story is a shifting story that appears to be morph as needed to fit the facts of the moment.

TIME LINE

15. Kelly Thomas, an unarmed 150 lb aggressive pedestrian sitting on a bench, was beat to death by 6 FPD police officers on July 5, 2011; apparently with all their combined bulk, mussels and weapons, they just could not seem to get Kelly under control without beating him to death.

16. While the Orange Count DA started his investigation on July 7, 2011, no serious actions were noted until after a large protest outside the FPD on July 18, 2011 and after July 30, 2011 when the FBI started its investigation.

17. At some point between July 10, 2011 and July 30, 2011, Fullerton City tried to settle the case for $900,000, most likely financed by the UNIONS, to keep this incident under the rug, so to speak and probably to keep the FBI out of their files.

18. On August 2, 2011 the Fullerton City Council meeting was held that discussed the Kelly Thomas case. Just hours before this meeting, Five (5) of the six officers were FINALLY placed on paid leave (one officer was already on leave for a different reason) but only after the FPD and City Council realized that this case was not going away, Kelley’s father could not be bought off, and the FBI were going to investigate.

19. This timeline, coupled with the shifting story of the FPD, coupled with the documented culture of corruption of the FPD and the Fullerton City Council, the demonstrated policy of fraudulently creating police reports using videotape and rewriting to make such reports consistent, coupled with the attempt to bribe Kelly Thomas’s father to hide the Kelly Thomas case, I have little trouble concluding that the FPD, some Fullerton City Council members and the Police Union (aka “union thugs”) have NO HONOR and will do whatever it takes to see that these police officers are found innocent.

THE CHARGES

20. Ramos has been charged with one felony count of second degree murder, one felony count of involuntary manslaughter;

21. Jay Cicinelli one felony count of involuntary manslaughter and one felony count of the use of excessive force;

PARRALLELS to ISAIAH SIMMONS CASE

http://juvienation.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/charges-dismissed-in-isaiah-simmons-case/

22. Isaiah Simmons, a 17-year-old convicted of armed robbery, died at the Baltimore-area Bowling Brook Preparatory School, a privately run residential program for juvenile offenders. Following an outburst that day, Simmons was set upon by a group of counselors, who, according to the Baltimore Sun, “pinned him face down to the ground, restraining him for about three hours.” After Simmons lost consciousness, the guards waited forty-one minutes before calling 911;

23. The school was shut down in March, the death was ruled a homicide; On January 29, 2008, Carroll Court Circuit Judge Michael Galloway dismissed the last of the charges of reckless endangerment that had been filed against the counselors in the Simmons case.

24. Bowling Brook administrator Brian Hayden said in a prepared statement, “With this dismissal, Judge Galloway affirms that these gentlemen had nothing but the utmost concern for the safety and welfare of Isaiah, and they reacted as quickly and effectively as possible in an effort to avoid this tragedy.”

24b. Simmons’s mother, Felicia Wilson, said she was “devastated and outraged” that charges against the counselors were dismissed. “I have no faith in the Carroll County justice system,” she said. “I’m not going to stop fighting for justice for my son.” Wilson has called for federal charges, and prosecutors plan to file an appeal.

25. Kelly Thomas supports and the citizens of Fullerton should get ready for their “outrage” when these cops are set free.

26. Side note: Don’t think that police officers are not aware of this phenomenon where suspects die when the suspect’s chests are compressed for long periods of time. Thus, if you want to kill a suspect in an apparently nonviolent way, a way that is difficult to prove was murder, simply apply sufficient pressure to the suspect’s back until he becomes comatose (as was done in the Kelley Thomas case if one believes the corner’s reported cause of death). When you hear the suspect cry out that he can breathe, you know you’re getting the pressure right, and simply hold it for sufficient amount time.

THE TRIAL

The trial will likely be a choreographed scam. I would not even be surprised if the DA and the defense team for the police officers (financed by the union thugs) get together and meticulously choreograph what case law will be presented, the best rebuttals to the case law, and the theatrics that will be used during the trial.

As I see it now, the State’s case depends on whether or not the DA can convince a jury that Ramos was committing a crime during the arrest. If so, the murder charge should stick as it does not matter if the death was an accident or completely the fault of Ramos as a death results from a criminal act committed by Ramos.
In contrast, if the jury does not believe that Ramos was committing a crime during the arrest, then the cause of death becomes critical.

This is where the coroner’s report becomes important as it differs in a material way from the UIC Documents. The coroner’s report puts the cause of death as: “mechanical compression of the thorax making it impossible to breathe normally”. The UIC Documents stated that Kelly Thomas died of Blunt Force Trauma to the head (“brain death” due to “head trauma” due to “Assault”). MRI demonstrated diffused supratentorial gray matter infarction consistent with diffused anoxic brain injury.

Diffused anoxic brain injury is consistent with the conclusions of both the coroner and the UIC documents. The difference: if the UIC documents are correct, then Ramos and Cicinelli are guilty of murder as they clearly caused all the head trauma (although Wolfe did to one knee to the head). If the corner is correct, pressure on Kelly’s back cause the death; a cause that cannot be attributed to Ramos alone beyond a reasonable doubt. The corner, DA, union thugs, Fullerton City Council and FPD really had to get together to figure this path out which is why it took so long for the coroner’s report to be made public.

In the end, the trial will be a choreographed circus and the cops will go free because the selected cause of death could not be attributed to Ramos and Cicinelli, there will be outrage among Kelly Thomas supporters, and the Union thugs will get richer off the tax pay money.

If there is to be justice in in Fullerton, it is going to have to come from the people.

“Things Just Happen.” A Window Into The Cicinelli Defense Strategy

An “aggressive pedestrian?” What?!

Helpfully provided by some locker room lawyer calling himself “John, Jay’s Brother.”

Acting Chief Hamilton:

I am writing you today regarding the unfortunate but real-life issue, the Kelly Thomas incident, a regrettable part of police work as you well know.  In most cases these things happen with no intent on the parts of the officers to cause any level of harm, let alone have a person die in their hands; things just happen.  We’re not talking a Rodney King incident, or the shooting of an unarmed transient as in the Charles Hill case in San Francisco, but a wrestling match with a few blows thrown to subdue an aggressive pedestrian who was stopped for lawful reasons.  In this case, it wasn’t the fighting that created the fatality, but positional asphyxia, something common to arrest incidents across the nation.  You’ve seen the video, as have many leaders in your department, and you cannot argue that these officers went in and beat Thomas to death; your fellow leaders in the department have made their observations and opinions clear.  The facts support all but the first two officers, with the only portion unknown and least defendable found within the first few minutes where they are behind the tree and invisible to the camera.  From the point when Corporal Jay Cicinelli enters the scene, Thomas is pulled into full view of the camera and all are in view the remainder of the incident.

While the death of Thomas is regrettable, the actions of the police department and the city are much more reprehensible, starting with the inadequate chief who said nothing but drifted off into his protected stress leave, and a new city manager who sorely lacked the experience to capture and control this from the onset.  Now, to have it left in the hands of the “unbiased” outside investigator has only exacerbated the problem as he bends to the political pressure brought on by the media and the accusing brothers whom themselves have suspect motives.  You know well what I am talking about.

I am writing on behalf of Jay, though I’ve looked at Manual Ramos as well and find little fault in him concerning this death.  Two officers do a pedestrian stop based on a call from a local pub.  The stop is legal, as well as their motive to detain and arrest Thomas as a possible suspect for 459 PC, burglary. Thomas fails to comply, and the fight is on, with no less than two broadcasts placed for officers to respond code-3.  With one officer out of shape, the fight is limited before Ramos spent his energy, and the second who remains on top of the subject is hurt.  The third officer on scene knows nothing but that his partners are in a fight, need help, and experiences them exhausted, hot, sweaty, and breathless, in a struggle with a bare-chested suspect.  He deploys the stun gun, dry first, and with the barbs second, but each having no effect.  In-fact, the only result seems to come with an officer receiving the shocking transfer of the jolt through Thomas’ body, into that of Officer Hampton.  What comes next is basic police work: A few knees by Officer Joseph Wolfe, as well as some punching to the face area.  Jay struggles to maintain his stun gun as Kelly attempts to disarm him twice, followed by Jay swinging it around a few times, then a few (between 3 and 5) ineffective swings with the stun gun to hit Thomas and stop his actions. As you know, Jay and Manual are at the lower portion of Thomas’ body, not the chest area where the medical problem arose.  After this, there is little that happens until they finally handcuff Thomas, and those who do, not Jay or Manual, leave him handcuffed and hogtied on his chest for several minutes.  Do I have to point out to professionals that people die from this alone every year in the hands of police officers?  So how then, do they so adamantly point the finger at Jay and Manual?  I know why: political pressure.

I find it hard to believe that people, from “Chief” Sellers, to the city manager, to the politicians sitting on the city council, don’t have the wherewithal to stand up for the truth, and defend your officers who have sworn to keep and oath that threatens their lives every day.  What I see is a series of cowardly decisions, made by people who are unwilling to do what is right, and defend these officers who were involved in a very unfortunate incident, and have been given up at Ron Thomas’ request, as “sacrificial lambs” if I remember the quote correctly.  I believe strongly that everyone from the OC District Attorney to the politicians and their appointed investigator are getting this off their Teflon desks as fast as they can conceivably do, disregarding the low lying fruit within your department, because to them, this is a trivial matter and not worth the time to do the right thing.  I believe that they are responding to the media when they assert that Jay has “mental issues” resulting from his LAPD shooting that caused the loss of his left eye.  I understand that former Chief McKinley has already stated that in the media, that he wasn’t sure why Jay did these things, and that he was given the psychological evaluation before being hired, indicating that he buys into the mental status.  From my records, my arbitral experience, and my legal experience with the EEOC, this would be called discrimination based on disabilities under ADA.  Furthermore, the manner by which the city is treating these two officers is significantly different than their fellow officers who faced and currently face criminal charges, some of which are strong felonies, not wobblers.  This is accurately described as disparate treatment, another cause of action that I strongly suggest be brought forward by these employees against not only the city, but those who are making the decision to suspend them without pay, thereby adversely impacting the lives of both officers and their families. And though they may deny these assertions, claiming some sort of sovereign immunity based upon their government status, the city, your agency and each person making such decisions are not immune from suits filed under the ADA, and are therefore subject to compensatory, special, future, and punitive damages. Finally, as it comes to the seven tests of just cause, the action taken to suspend these officers comes unfounded based on the lack of a full and complete, unbiased investigation, and the assertion of “rule violations” is most apparently contrived for the purposes of eliminating a political animal that rests heavily on the backs of every person listed above.

I pray that you will step in the gap for these officers, to make decisions that are not based on politics or public opinion, but on facts.  And, if the facts are not there to support such negative actions, I strongly urge you to state this to those who are pushing you to make adverse decisions regarding these men and their families.  There have been many men throughout history who have changed their course of direction for the right reasons, and have faced scrutiny for doing so.  To change course in this case is the right decision, as you know deep down in your heart, and one that will come at a price.  Is your future career at a heavily scrutinized department worth the futures of these officers and their families?  Please understand that if the leaders above you, who push to get rid of these officers without proof, but based on the ugly pressures of public opinion, do not change their course of action against these officers, each action and decision will not go unanswered, and the legal and political issues they face now will only be exacerbated when these officers are cleared of their charges in court when their day comes.

Sincerely,

John

Jay’s Brother


 

 

Ex-Chief McKinley Unleashed Bad Cop

Just for those of you who mistakenly believe FFFF has only recently become interested in the doings and misdoings of our police force, here’s a post originally published October 7, 2009 – exactly two years ago, detailing the way in which the esteemed Pat McKinley molly-coddled the worst of his boys, who just happened to be President of the Fullerton Police Officer’s Association, the union that supports the councilmen cover-up artists Jones, Bankhead, and (surprise, surprise) Pat McKinley.The incidents described here took place six years ago, leading a reasonable person to infer that the culture of corruption cultivated by McKinley has deep roots, indeed.

Enjoy a blast from the past courtesy of the FFFF archives!

– Joe Sipowicz

Officer misconduct cases are usually handled behind closed doors, hidden away from the public who are ultimately the victims when cops go bad. Recently a document slipped out from underneath the curtain and gave us some insight into Chief McKinley’s department, which had a habit responding to officer misconduct by looking the other way and pressuring victims to stay silent — demonstrating brazen contempt for the rule of law.

Officers John Cross and Gregg Nowling were caught on tape in the 2005 beating of a young man who was pulled over for playing his music too loud. Fearing outrage, the department refused to release the recording to the public. Nowling resigned, but John Cross was the president of the Fullerton Police Officers Association (the union), so he decided to take his chances and ride out the punishment that was sure to be nothing more than a token admonishment from his friendly boss, Chief Patrick McKinley.

He's big. He's bad. He's baaaaack!
I'll just pretend I didn't see that.

John Cross should have been fired and sued, but a deal was allegedly struck with the victim in which charges would be dropped if the young man kept quiet. This allowed the department head to give Cross a mere slap on the wrist – a two step demotion in pay for the next two years.

When nobody was paying attention, Chief McKinley eliminated John Cross’ punishment one year early:

cross-reinstatement

The record shows that almost immediately, John Cross began another series of disturbing actions that ultimately forced the department to fire him. The Council found one example most frightening – Officer Cross had covered up an incident involving a drunk off-duty sheriff who was brandishing his weapon in public. He also failed to follow up on a potential suicide when it was only a few doors down from his location. At least six of these events involved Cross’ turning off his audio recorder in violation of department policy.

There are plenty of other allegations of McKinley’s department looking the other way when incidents were perpetrated by those the department favored, and this is only one of the most severe. As one of our commenters said, McKinley’s game was played at the the expense of our community’s safety, peace, and tax dollars.

John and Ken Event Postponed, Chief Sellers Still Under the Weather

The recall targets have been given a temporary reprieve from John and Ken’s physical presence due to inclement weather. We’ll be rescheduling the event sometime after next week.

Meanwhile, City Hall is still being battered by the media storm of their own creation. Check out today’s news byte… apparently Chief Sellers’ medical leave is having hefty impact on Fullerton’s finances.

Still, $19,000 a month is chump change compared to the damage Chief McKinley’s wrecking crew did while Sellers watched safely from his office. As with many of his FPD cohorts, it’s just plain cheaper to keep him at home where he can’t hurt anybody.