FULLERTON, Calif. — A councilwoman requested the resignation of Police Chief Michael Sellers on Wednesday over his handling of events in the wake of a police confrontation that led to the death of a mentally ill man.
Councilwoman Sharon Quirk-Silva said the chief should have taken a more public role in his department's response to the Kelly Thomas case. Thomas, 37, a transient with schizophrenia, was fatally injured in a fight with six Fullerton officers last month.
His death has prompted federal and local investigations and generated a growing public demand for answers and consequences. Quirk-Silva joined that chorus at 6 a.m. Wednesday — hours after tempers flared at a City Council meeting — with an electronic message sent to the city manager demanding the chief's immediate resignation.
"I think that the chief is a very likable man that has done his best, but you have to be out there," Quirk-Silva said. "If the chief, the face of the Fullerton Police Department, was out there, that would have helped."
Police did not return a phone call seeking comment. A lawyer representing the six officers declined to comment in detail, citing the ongoing investigations.
"Unfortunately, public perception of officers trying to control a combative, resistant suspect rarely conform to those officers' training, experience, what those officers were experiencing at the time, or reality," attorney Michael Schwartz said. "It's rarely a full picture that comes out at this stage. It's a small piece of a larger puzzle."
Officers were investigating reports of a man burglarizing cars near the Fullerton train station on July 5 when they confronted Thomas. Police say that Thomas became violent when they tried to search him, and that it took six officers to subdue him. Cellphone video of the fight captured the clicking sounds of a Taser being used and Thomas crying out for his father.
Thomas suffered severe head and neck injuries and was taken off life support five days after the fight. All six officers have been put on paid administrative leave.
Hundreds of people crammed Fullerton's City Council meeting late Tuesday to demand answers. Many of the 70-plus who spoke at the meeting also demanded the resignation of Sellers. He sat in silence through the meeting and has not yet responded publicly.
Thomas' father, Ron, also said he wants the chief to resign. He has praised what he called "great" communication from the department and said the chief listened to his concerns during a private meeting Tuesday evening. But he said, "They need to start from the very top."
Ron Thomas said he intends to file a lawsuit over the death of his son and to seek "large amounts" that will be donated to a charitable foundation he started in his son's name. On Wednesday, he released a typed ledger that he said was a settlement offered by an attorney for the city, worth more than $950,000 in costs and payouts. He said he and his family "absolutely" rejected it.
Thomas described his son as a drifter who once dreamed of becoming a firefighter but who withdrew from his family in his 20s. His schizophrenia made him shy away from contact with other people, he said.
Kelly Thomas had been off his psychiatric medications for several years, his father said. His family, unable to force him into treatment programs, even sought a restraining order against Kelly Thomas in an effort to get him taken into custody and sent to a psychiatric ward, his father said. It didn't work.
The request for that restraining order, filed by Kelly Thomas' mother, says he started yelling "very loud" when she asked him to leave the front porch, where he was sleeping. It also says she had called police once before, when Thomas "held me by my neck and would not let go."
Kelly's mother, Cathy Thomas, said late Wednesday that she didn't remember details of the incident, which she estimated happened in 2010. "He and I had probably argued," she said. "He was never violent with me. … I do remember having to call police because he was getting out of hand."
The Orange County District Attorney's Office and the FBI are investigating the death of Kelly Thomas. The District Attorney's Office has footage from a surveillance camera near where the officers confronted him that shows part of the fight, Chief of Staff Susan Kang Schroeder said.
Thomas' father said he expects a fair investigation on all levels – even though one of the senior investigators handling the case for the District Attorney's Office is a friend of the Fullerton police chief. Officials from the Police Department and the District Attorney's Office confirmed that relationship but said it will play no role in the investigation.
Ron Thomas also said he has no concerns about the investigator.
