Family sues Anaheim police, city claiming officers beat and choked bipolar son to death
The family of a 38-year-old man who died after struggling with police has filed a lawsuit against the city of Anaheim and its police department, alleging the man was beaten and choked to death.
The suit alleging wrongful death, filed Saturday, Feb. 16, in federal court alleges two officers repeatedly struck Justin Perkins on his face, head and body with their fists and batons. One of the officers, the suit further alleges, held Perkins in a choke hold as he tried to break free.
A city spokesman, however, said “officers responded to a call for help for someone being assaulted and acted in their duty as peace officers.”
John Burris and DeWitt Lacy, attorneys for Justin’s mother Teresa, recounted the events of that day during a Monday, Feb. 18 news conference held in front of the same complex where the confrontation took place.
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On the morning of Oct. 27, 2018 at about 8:30 a.m. a caller reported that a man had assaulted an employee at the Madison Park Apartments on West Broadway. When officers arrived they tried to take the suspect, later identified as Perkins, into custody but he resisted and an altercation ensued, Anaheim police said at the time. He was taken into custody and went into cardiac arrest shortly after. He was taken to a hospital but died days later on Oct. 31.
“There was no indication he was involved in illegal activity…that would justify this use of force,” Burris said. Burris and Perkins’ family members say Perkins was biploar and that they have been told no information about the initial call that prompted police to respond.
Perkins’ uncle Mike Perkins broke down in tears and he retold witnessing the events that morning. The two lived together, along with Perkins’ father, in the apartment on West Broadway. Mike Perkins said his nephew had gone out to get the mail. After a little while he heard Perkins yelling and went outside to what he thought was his nephew being jumped.
“I see badges, I see guns…and I yell ‘Please, you’re hurting him!’,” Perkins said, adding that he told them he was mentally impaired. He described his nephew as a “gentle giant” who had the mental capacities of a 12-year-old.
“There is a difference between a drug addict and a mentally challenged person…(Police officers) need to be retrained to tell the difference.”
The complaints also details how Perkins’ body eventually went “limp” and he was handcuffed. The officers, named in the complaint as Shiao Wang and Kenny Lee, stood him up and he walked a few feet before collapsing. It says he appeared unconscious and not breathing and it was 45 minutes before he was given medical care and taken to a hospital, where he was on life support before being pronounced dead days later.
The complaint details other alleged civil rights violations including excessive force and denial of medical care. His family also disputed reports that Perkins was high on drugs, saying he didn’t use any beyond his medication.
After the news conference, about two dozen people marched from the apartment complex to the front of the Anaheim Police Department headquarters on Harbor Boulevard holding signs emblazoned with the image of Perkins on life support in the hospital.
Burris said his office has asked Anaheim police for the body camera footage of the incident, but has been turned down.
“Any public release of body-worn camera footage before those reviews are done would be premature,” Anaheim city spokesman Mike Lyster said in response to a question about the release of police body camera footage.
Anaheim police initially reported that two officers had been “seriously injured” but no details about their injuries were made public. Mike Perkins, though, recalled one of the officers complaining about having been bitten.
Two officers who were injured during the confrontation were treated and released from a hospital by the next day, police have said. But they have not yet been cleared to return to work, Lyster said Monday.
The family is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
“Our thoughts go out to any family that has lost a loved one,” Lyster said in a statement released shortly before the Perkins family’s press conference.
“Our officers responded to a call for help for someone being assaulted and acted in their duty as peace officers. They sustained serious injuries and have yet to be cleared to return to work. Beyond that, we want to respect all involved by letting reviews of the incident and any legal process play out.”
The incident is under review by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and the Anaheim Police Department’s Major Incident Review Team.