Family of man who got into Azusa police SUV and found dead days later files lawsuit

Family members saying they want “justice and answers” for a 37-year-old man who died inside a police SUV parked outside the Azusa Police Department have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging negligence on the part of officers tasked with overseeing the man’s well-being.

The body of Eric Valencia, a father of two, was discovered in the back seat of a police vehicle on March 26, days after he had been released from police custody. Surveillance video shows Valencia climbing into the back seat of the unlocked police SUV, which was parked by the station awaiting maintenance.

Civil rights attorneys representing Valencia’s family say he was suffering from alcohol withdrawal and psychosis and that police chose to release him from custody rather than get him help.

The attorneys also accused police of not taking family members seriously when they reported Valencia missing, and of at one point falsely telling distraught loved ones that he was last seen walking toward a train. Instead, the attorneys noted, Valencia spent up to three days unnoticed in the police SUV.

“You shouldn’t go to jail for a DUI and end up in the back seat of a patrol vehicle dead of hyperthermia,” said Luis Carrillo, one of the attorneys representing the family.

“The city of Azusa maintains a practice of not providing public comment on matters involving active or pending litigation,” officials said in a statement. “The city remains committed to transparency and due process and will address such matters through the appropriate legal channels.”

Emotional family members, during a Wednesday, Oct. 28 news conference at their attorneys’ South Pasadena office, described the impact of Valencia’s death. Julia McCormick, Valencia’s sister-in-law, said that before the body was found, police dismissed their concerns about his disappearance.

“They (police) didn’t take us seriously,” McCormick said. “We were pleading with them, ‘Something is wrong, he was last known to be here (at the jail), so do your job.’ And the whole time they have been keeping everything from us, like we are some kind of criminals. All we want are answers.”

Michael Carrillo, another attorney representing the family, said, “(The) Azusa Police Department treated this family like they were trash. And they treated Eric like he was trash.

“Rather than try to save a life, they took a life,” the lawyer said. “And for that, we are going to get justice in the court of law and hold the Azusa Police Department responsible for the pain they have caused.”

Around 9:40 p.m. on March 20, Valencia was arrested for a suspected DUI during a traffic stop around 9:40 p.m. He told the officers, “I’m an alcoholic; I’m supposed to be in detox,” according to his family’s attorneys.

Valencia was booked into the Azusa Police Department jail, where he spent two days, 15 hours in custody. He was released just after 12:30 p.m. on March 23.

Surveillance video captured Valencia, alone, leaving the jail facility and going onto Alameda Avenue, initially walking toward his nearby home, then turning back and walking over to three parked police vehicles.

Valencia, the attorneys said, appeared to be having a conversation with himself as he peered into one of the police vehicles. He opened a back door and got into the rear seat of the vehicle, then closed the car door. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, Oct. 27 says the vehicle could not be opened from the back seat and a person in there cannot exit without assistance.

Valencia family members said they were puzzled when he didn’t appear in court. The mother of his children went to the station to talk to police on March 24, she said, but no official report was taken. The next day, March 25, Valencia’s sister-in-law went to the station and filed a formal missing-person report.

On March 26, a worker inspecting the police SUV spotted Valencia’s body. An autopsy determined that he died from hyperthermia. The attorneys say that based on the medical report, he likely suffered from extreme heat, thirst, physical pain and fear before he died.

“That patrol vehicle ended up being Eric’s tomb,” Luis Carrillo said.

Among the key questions, the attorneys said, is why police, after receiving the missing-person report, didn’t check the security footage that shows Valencia getting into the SUV, as well as why no one noticed him trapped for days in a vehicle that close to the police facility.

Surveillance footage taken inside the jail facility minutes before Valencia’s release shows two workers appearing to casually watch Valencia as he struggled to put on his shoes. The family attorney’s said that Valencia at the time was in “a state of shock, a state of psychosis.”

Police officials have contended that Valencia had a working cellphone with him. Attorneys for the family said they want to see the proof about the phone, adding that in his alleged mental state he may not have been in a position to use it.

Justine Cendejas, the mother of Valencia’s two children, said the boys still ask for their father every night.

“There is nothing I can do to take away their pain,” she said.

The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of monetary damages.