Callahan & Blaine

The Fullerton city manager has submitted a request to the City Council to bring in a specialist in examining law enforcement agencies following the July 5 altercation between a mentally ill homeless man and six Fullerton police officers that has sparked outrage in Orange County, according to a news report.

Kelly Thomas, 37, who had been diagnosed as schizophrenic and was homeless, died on July 10 after an altercation with Fullerton police officers who were investigating reports of a man trying to burglarize cars at the bus depot on South Pomona Ave.  When officers tried to search Kelly, he fought them and suffered severe head and neck injuries.  He died five days later from those injuries.

Thomas’ parents and many community members allege the police used extreme force in subduing Thomas, who has a long history of mental illness.  The six officers involved in the incident have been placed on administrative duty.

The FBI has been called in to investigate the incident, and Fullerton City Manager Joe Felz says he also wants approval to hire Michael Gennaco, a specialist in examining law enforcement agencies and chief attorney for the L.A. County Office of Independent Review, to conduct an internal investigation into the Fullerton Police Department’s training, use-of-force policies and methods on dealing with the mentally ill and homeless.

If you or a loved one is involved in an incident that causes death or serious injury, call Callahan & Blaine, California’s Premier Litigation Firm. We are one of the leading catastrophic injury firms in the state of California. In fact, in the last five years alone our lawyers have obtained over $1.2 billion in verdicts and settlements, including a record breaking $50 Million settlement against the City of Dana Point, which has been certified as the largest personal injury settlement in the history of the United States.  Callahan & Blaine has also recently obtained a $28 Million settlement for a driver who was hit by a runaway truck wheel on the freeway, a $7 million settlement for a bicyclist who was struck by a newspaper delivery truck, and a $7.25 million settlement for a man who was run over trying to board a city bus.

Our success in litigating and negotiating personal injury cases comes from our uncommon approach; we handle each personal injury case as though it were a complex business litigation case, attacking it from every angle possible. While our firm is located in Orange County, California, we handle serious personal injury, wrongful death and product liability cases nationwide.

If you or someone you know has suffered a catastrophic injury or died as the result of a wrongful death claim, please contact our California law firm for expert legal counsel.