Man in critical condition after confrontation with officers in Anaheim, police say

A man was hospitalized in critical condition after a confrontation with Anaheim police officers, a police official said Sunday.

Police were dispatched to the 2600 block of West Broadway Avenue about 9:15 a.m. Saturday after receiving a report of a suspicious man following a woman to her home, according to Sgt. Daron Wyatt, a spokesman with the Anaheim Police Department.

The man, whom police identified as Fermin Vincent Valenzuela of Anaheim, became combative when officers attempted to speak to him, Wyatt said. When they moved to arrest him, his heart stopped and he quit breathing, Wyatt said.

At a news conference, Valenzuela’s family said he went into cardiac arrest when he was Tasered by officers. They added that he had no pre-existing conditions that would explain his heart failure.

The officers provided medical attention and paramedics with Anaheim Fire and Rescue took Valenzuela to the nearest hospital, where he was listed in critical condition Sunday afternoon, Wyatt said. Police did not provide further information about the confrontation.

Family members told the OC Weekly that the confrontation left Valenzuela, father of two children, in a coma at West Anaheim Medical Center. The publication reported that Valenzuela is 32, homeless and suffers from bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorders, but was off his medication. Valenzuela was recently released from Orange County Jail after his arrest on suspicion of possessing drug paraphernalia, the newspaper said. Anaheim police officials said Valenzuela is 24.

The family has retained James Segall-Gutierrez, an attorney who handles police brutality cases, the paper said. Phone calls and emails to Segall-Gutierrez were not immediately returned.

The run-in with Anaheim officers comes nearly five years after the beating death of Kelly Thomas, a 37-year-old schizophrenic homeless man who died in 2011 after a run-in with Fullerton police officers. The case ignited public outrage and demonstrations. A jury acquitted Officers Manuel Ramos and Jay Cicinelli of murder and manslaughter charges in January 2014.

Wyatt said the Orange County district attorney, the Anaheim Police Department’s major incident review team and the Office of Independent Review are investigating Valenzuela’s arrest. Video from the arresting officers’ body cameras has been turned over to Orange County prosecutors, he added.

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UPDATES:

10:22 p.m.: This article has been updated with comments from Valenzuela’s family.

This article was orginally published at 7:27 p.m.