A man has been awarded $900,000 after enduring 17 hours of interrogation from California police officers – during which, they threatened to have his dog put down and coerced a false murder confession out of him…
…A murder confession for a man who was still alive.
Thomas Perez Jr.’s report of his missing father to the Fontana Police Department in August 2018 escalated into a disturbing ordeal, resulting in a false murder confession and nearly a full day of “psychological torture” during interrogation, The Telegraph reports.
Perez, aged 30, contacted authorities on August 7, 2018, after his father failed to return home from walking the family dog.
Following his report, Perez was taken in for questioning by the Fontana Police Department, where he endured a grueling 17-hour interrogation by multiple detectives.
According to court records cited by The Orange County Register, detectives informed Perez that his father was dead and presented him with false evidence suggesting he was responsible for the supposed murder.
Officers told Perez that police had found bloodstains throughout the house and said a police canine had smelled the presence of a dead body, court records show, per The Orange County Register.
They even brought in Perez’s pet dog and threatened to euthanize her, claiming she was traumatized and “depressed” after witnessing the alleged crime.
“How can you sit there and say you don’t know what happened, and your dog is sitting there looking at you, knowing that you killed your dad?” one investigator reportedly told Perez. “Look at your dog. She knows, because she was walking through all the blood.”
Under the intense pressure of interrogation, Perez eventually confessed to the crime, describing a scene where he allegedly stabbed his father multiple times with scissors.
While under questioning, Perez started ripping his hair out, tore at his clothes, and started hitting himself.
When he pleaded with officers to provide him medical attention, Perez was reportedly told that he did not need his psychiatric medication.
Disturbingly, Perez attempted suicide by hanging himself with the drawstring from his shorts while left alone in the interrogation room.
Perez’s confession was based on falsehoods – with U.S. District Court Judge Dolly Gee stating that he was left “sleep deprived, mentally ill, and, significantly, undergoing symptoms of withdrawal from his psychiatric medications”.
His father was not dead, and his daughter had informed authorities that he was with a “lady friend” on the night of Perez’s confession and attempted suicide.
However, after learning that Perez’s father was, in fact, alive, they did not tell his son. Instead, Perez was kept isolated in an involuntary psychiatric hold for three days. They did not inform him that his father was alive.
Perez’s attorney, Jerry Steering, said he spent the time believing both his father and dog were dead.
In response to the ordeal, Perez filed a civil suit against the city of Fontana, which culminated in a settlement of $898,000. Perez agreed to the settlement out of concern that a potential jury award could be overturned on appeal due to qualified immunity for police officers.
“This case shows that if the police are skilled enough, and they grill you hard enough, they can get anybody to confess to anything,” Steering said.
Judge Gee criticized the tactics employed by detectives, noting that their actions led to Perez’s false confession and suicide attempt. However, despite the settlement, the Fontana Police Department has yet to comment on the matter.
One of the police officers involved in Perez’ interrogation has since retired. The other three are still employed with the Fontana Police Department.
