The Crime Beat Archives - Page 42 of 46 - Friends For Fullerton's Future

August 1, 2011August 1, 2011The Crime Beat

The Return of the Informant

by Travis176 Comments

The anonymous informant on the Kelly Thomas beating called back into the John and Ken show on KFI today.

Notable claims made by the informant:

The officers involved were allegedly shown the video while they were writing their reports, allowing them to make sure that all of their accounts match.
Officer Hampton was allegedly attempting to handcuff the suspect but had to back off because the blood from another officer’s strikes was splattering on him.
The informant claims that the officer who allegedly does most of the beating is a retired LAPD officer who was shot in the eye on duty three weeks on the job. Fullerton later hired him as the officer with one glass eye.
As recently as Friday night, this same officer was assigned to plain-clothes duty in the gang unit.
An officer was allegedly bragging about the beating the next day in the locker room.
There is a long history of cover-ups within the Fullerton Police Department
The police reports were ordered to be rewritten many times because management did not like the way the reports were written.

August 1, 2011August 1, 2011Home Town Hero

Sharon Quirk-Silva Says: “Release The Video”

by admin94 Comments

Regrets are like ........ — Release the video!

To Fullerton Community Members:

As a member of the Fullerton City Council, and a mother, I am deeply disturbed by this tragic event. I am so sorry that this has happened in the city of Fullerton. I have talked to Mr. Ron Thomas to express my sympathy. I have demanded that all six officers be placed on administrative leave and that we fully investigate this incident.

I have asked for detailed accounts of this event and to see the video and release the video.

As a leader in Fullerton, I know that it is our job to be transparent, accountable, and to serve and protect our citizens.

More than anything, I am committed to finding justice for Kelly Thomas.

As a mother, I can only imagine the sheer pain that the family must be enduring right now. Not only losing a son, but dealing with such a horrifying death.

My thought and prayers are with the Thomas Family and our community at this difficult time.

Sincerely,
Councilmember Sharon Quirk- Silva

July 31, 2011August 20, 2011About Us

Rap on This, FPD

by Joe Sipowicz32 Comments

Here’s something creative: a groove for Kelly Thomas.

BNF – 6 Lil Piggies (Justice for Kelly Thomas) feat. Jay Bird by BNF

July 29, 2011July 29, 2011The Crime Beat

Police Insider Offers New Graphic Description of Police Beating

by Travis354 Comments

Yesterday the John and Ken Show spent 4 hours expressing outrage over the Fullerton police beating of Kelly Thomas, the lack of media coverage and the cowardly concealment of evidence by Fullerton officials.

Towards the end of the show a man called in purporting to be friends with a Fullerton police officer. He passed along some new, graphic information on what was supposedly seen on the city’s surveillance camera, which the police are still not releasing to the public. Here it is:

Notable claims:

One officer supposedly beat Kelly Thomas with the butt of his Taser until blood started coming up all over the officer’s arms and hands.
Another officer supposedly drop knees Kelly Thomas’ nose and throat with the full force of his body weight multiple times, crushing the victim’s throat.
This happened while Kelly Thomas was not moving or resisting.

July 28, 2011July 28, 2011Shawn Nelson

FBI Launches Formal Investigation into the Kelly Thomas Beating

by Travis139 Comments

Today Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson sent over this formal request to have the FBI take over the investigation of the police beating death of Kelly Thomas.

As a result, Supervisor Nelson told us that the FBI confirmed that it has launched a formal investigation into the incident.

July 28, 2011July 28, 2011Orange County Government

Uh Oh. Is the DA’s Investigation in the Hands of the Chief’s Good Buddy?

by Travis152 Comments

We may have figured out why it took the District Attorney investigators three weeks to start talking to witnesses on the Kelly Thomas police beating case…

According to this unsigned note that just came in to our website, Chief Sellers is a close personal friend of DA investigator Stan Berry, who was immediately assigned to the high-profile Fullerton case:

I suggest you check into the connection between Investigator Berry and FPD Chief Sellers. Sellers hired Berry when he was the Chief at Seal Beach PD. Sellers and his wife Rita Fraser-Sellers, are close personal friends with Berry and his wife, Kristen Berry, the Dispatch Supervisor in Seal Beach. They socialize together, vacation together and entertain each other in their respective homes.

Of all the DA investigators, why choose Berry, other than he will help cover for his friend.

Presumably that case assignment was a decision made by the DA Tony Rackauckas. I have confirmed that Berry worked as an investigator under Chief Sellers for the Seal Beach Police Department.

As for as the familial socializing, entertaining and vacationing together…maybe the Chief can clear that one up for us.

If our informant is correct, this would be a huge conflict of interest in a very high-profile investigation.

July 28, 2011July 28, 2011The Crime Beat

First Video of the FPD Beating Emerges

by Travis90 Comments

WARNING: Graphic Photo of FPD Beating Victim

by admin1,022 Comments

Kelly Thomas Story Stirring Worldwide Outrage?

by Travis52 Comments

Now we’re getting some traction. The story of a homeless man beaten to death by the Fullerton police seems to be attracting some significant attention outside of our own little town.

The infamous Gawker (7 million monthly readers)
Police Beat ‘Gentle’ Homeless, Mentally Ill Man to Death

Across the pond in the Daily Mail (72 million monthly readers)
Caught on tape: Police beat and taser ‘gentle’ mentally-ill homeless man to death

Philip DeFranco Show (one million daily viewers)
July 27, 2011 Show

Huffington Post
Police Beat Homeless Fullerton Man Kelly Thomas To Death

I’ll keep this post up to date as coverage expands.

July 26, 2011August 21, 2011Setting The Bar Low

A Case of Mistaken Identity? Yeah, Right.

by Mr. Peabody69 Comments

This image was included in a story at Fullerton Stories here and purports to be a 2009 police booking photo of recent Fullerton homicide victim Kelly Thomas that was, presumably, provided by the ever helpful FPD spokehole Andrew Goodrich. Well, this is certainly a scary looking dude: pretty buff and mangy, and sufficiently angry-looking to scare the good folks of Fullerton right back into complacency about the homicide of a mentally-ill homeless man.

The only trouble is that it isn’t Kelly Thomas at all. His parents say this isn’t their son. But we don’t need their expert opinion. Apart from a large nose that is completely different from every other picture of Thomas, Kelly’s hair was flaming red, a simple fact illustrated in every other picture of him in the Fullerton Stories piece.

So what gives? Is this just a cheapjack trick by Goodrich & Co. to degrade the victim by presenting Kelly Thomas as a surly, muscular threat to Fullerton’s delicate residents? If so, the Fullerton Police Department has actually hit a new low, and given recent events that’s pretty goddam hard for them to do. But it’s just when you think you’ve hit the FPD basement you find out there are even lower levels.

I will await a comical explanation from the Good Sergeant Goodrich, but of course I won’t be holding my breath.

Category: The Crime Beat