Ron Thomas at the city council meeting Tuesday night. Photo by Peter Pham/Daily Titan
Tensions were high at the Fullerton City Hall Tuesday night as members of the community awaited the City Council meeting said to clear the name of Kelly Thomas, the Fullerton homeless man that was violently beaten and died as a result of an altercation with Fullerton police officers.
The council chambers were divided as the community poured in. The left side of the room was filled with supporters of the Fullerton Police Department, sporting bright blue shirts with the words “We <3 Fullerton Police.”
On the right side of the room sat Ron Thomas, father of Kelly Thomas, with family friends and others who wore white shirts that read “We <3 the People.”
Thomas anticipated Fullerton Police clearing Kelly’s name of any wrongdoing.
“Fullerton police came out, through their spokesperson Sgt. Goodrich, and said that Kelly was breaking into cars,” said Thomas. “The officers broke bones during what they call an altercation with him, I call it a brutal beating (and) death.”
The officers said that Kelly Thomas had stolen property on him in a stolen backpack, which Ron Thomas maintained was not true.
Acting Police Chief of the Fullerton Police Department Dan Hughes stood in front of the council and spoke.
“On the night of July 5, 2011, Kelly Thomas was in possession of a backpack,” said Hughes. “Inside that backpack was the passport, a computer tablet, mail addressed to an attorney and keys to a Lexus vehicle. None of these items belonged to Kelly Thomas.”
It was later learned after the date of the incident, that the owner of the backpack inadvertently left his backpack in a public place and that the keys, the passport, and the computer tablet belonged to the owner of that backpack, he said.
“There is no evidence of which the Fullerton Police Department is now aware that Kelly Thomas stole the backpack or it’s contents,” Hughes said.
On July 5, 2011, the Fullerton Police Department received a report from a citizen who told Fullerton Police that she observed Kelly Thomas trying to break into vehicles, Hughes said. The call from the citizen was the only call the Fullerton Police received with the observation.
“With the exception of this report, there is no evidence of which the Fullerton Police Department is now aware that Kelly Thomas actually tried to steal anything from any of the vehicles in the lot,” Hughes said.
On July 5, 2011, the Fullerton Police Department received a report from a citizen who told Fullerton Police that she observed Kelly Thomas trying to break into vehicles, Hughes said. The call from the citizen was the only call the Fullerton Police received with the observation.
“With the exception of this report, there is no evidence of which the Fullerton Police Department is now aware that Kelly Thomas actually tried to steal anything from any of the vehicles in the lot,” Hughes said.
The Orange County Grand Jury convened Wednesday and set an indictment for former Fullerton Police officer Joe Wolfe, who may be the third police officer charged in the case.
“I’ve wanted (Wolfe) charged from the very beginning and 14 months later he’s finally going to be charged,” Thomas said.
While Thomas found some resolution from the meeting, others were not as happy with the results.
Stephan Baxter, a local activist in the community of Fullerton, was displeased with the outcome.
“When they killed him 14 months ago, the first thing out of this department’s mouth was that he was the aggressor, that he’d broken bones, that he was a theft, and that he escalated the situation,” said Baxter.
Baxter said he knew Kelly Thomas personally; he would let Kelly hang out in his apartment and shower every now and again and knew him as a very gentle and sweet individual.
“They cleared him of being a thief, I didn’t hear them clear him of being violent,” Baxter said. “I was expecting him to be fully cleared, not what I heard tonight.”
While previous medical reports state that the officers involved in the altercation received broken bones and fractures, Hughes said the report was strained.
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