Death of black man protested
Some in crowd shout ‘killers!’ at Pasadena officers after man is Tasered, restrained and dies in struggle.
As a crowd of protesters shouted at investigators Friday, homicide detectives said the man who died in a struggle with Pasadena police had been struck with Tasers and restrained after officers were told he had a knife and might be using drugs.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has been called in to investigate the death at the Orange Grove Gardens apartment complex in northwest Pasadena.
The death of an African American man who relatives say suffered from mental illness quickly sparked discord in this predominantly minority, working-class community.
As Capt. Steve Katz spoke with reporters outside the gate of the low-income apartment complex in the 200 block of East Orange Grove Boulevard, scores of protesters shouted “killers!” and swore at officers.
“What is the name of the officer who killed Reginald?” shouted Black Lives Matter demonstrator Jasmine Richards.
Authorities have yet to identify the dead man, but relatives and neighbors said he was Reginald Thomas, a father of eight who was known to many as Junior.
According to Katz, Pasadena police received a call from a cellphone around 2 a.m. but could not locate the address. At 2:35 a.m., police received a second call from the cellphone with a
report of a family disturbance.
“A struggle could be heard over the phone,” Katz said.
The caller said a man “was in possession of a knife and a fire extinguisher” and possibly under the influence of narcotics, Katz said.
When officers arrived at Orange Grove Gardens, they found the man, along with a woman and two teenagers, inside the apartment.
The officers “saw him with a knife. He was at the door,” Katz said.
When the man refused to cooperate with police, officers fired their Tasers at him twice.
“The man resisted, and they used physical force and restrained him,” Katz said.
As officers placed handcuffs on the man, they noticed he was in distress and immediately began lifesaving measures, he said.
Six Pasadena police officers were involved in the incident, Katz said.
Friday afternoon, Pasadena Police Chief Phillip Sanchez issued a statement to the community:
“The loss of any life is always tragic and should be fully investigated. In that regard you have my commitment that all aspects of this incident will be reviewed.”
His department, he said, is cooperating with sheriff ’s investigators and the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, which will conduct independent investigations.
The Pasadena Police Department will also conduct an independent administrative investigation “to examine policies, tactics, training, equipment and the officers’ state of mind,” Sanchez added.
He cautioned that the investigations will take some time and asked for “calm in our community and as difficult as it can be wait until the facts are examined.”
Pasadena officials said two officers were injured during the struggle. No details were provided on their conditions.
The man’s body remained in the apartment complex until just after 3 p.m. Friday as detectives investigated and as demonstrators gathered and shouted at police.
“Obviously there are a lot of tensions here,” Katz said.
About 100 protesters continued to stand outside the apartment complex for much of the day. Several of them blocked the eastbound lane of Orange Grove Boulevard, and one held a sign that read “Jr. Thomas life mattered.”
Forrest Elder, Thomas’ brother-in-law, said the dead man “had four children with my sister and has one on the way.”
Elder said Thomas had four other children as well.
“They called him Daddy Daycare,” he said.
Elder said there was no reason his brother-in-law should not be alive.
“He called the police for help, and they treated him like a suspect,” Elder said.
“They hogtied him. … I feel for the kids. … We need dads in our home.”
Elder said that his brother-in-law was “struggling with mental illness” and that he had been “in and out of homes with medication.”
He said officers would have known of Thomas’ history, and violence wasn’t needed. In his view, race was a prime factor.
“A black man with a match gets shot,” Elder said.
Shainie Lindsay, Thomas’ wife, told KTLA-TV that he was bipolar and that he had called police that morning because he needed help.
“They know he is on Social Security,” she told the TV station. “They know he is 5150. This is not the first runin with him.”
Fifty-one-fifty is a reference to the code for a psychiatric commitment.
The Pasadena Fire Department received a call at 3 a.m. from police about a man not breathing, spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said.
When firefighters arrived, they determined “it was a fatality,” she said.
In 2012, Pasadena officers fatally shot unarmed black college student Kendrec McDade after a false report of an armed robbery, sparking community protests and calls for greater oversight of police.
African Americans make up about 11% of the city’s 140,000 residents.
A city-commissioned study early this year found that minorities, particularly in northwest Pasadena, reported feeling under siege from the city’s police. In contrast, those in more upscale areas reported no issues with policing.