1 hour ago
4
Shocking video shows the moment cops found a dead body in a squad car parked outside police headquarters.
Officers in the Southern California town of Azusa last week found the body of Eric Valencia, 37, decomposing in the back seat of a black-and-white police vehicle located directly in front of the station house.
Valencia, a father of two, had been released from custody on March 23. Security footage shows him entering the parked vehicle just minutes after his release from jail.
Police had arrested Valencia three days before that, on charges of driving under the influence and child endangerment.
Body cam footage released Tuesday by Azusa police shows the moment officers found Valencia’s body, after they were notified of a corpse being in the squad car by a maintenance worker hired to clean the vehicle.
An officer opens the back door of the squad car to inspect the vehicle in the predawn footage.
“For sure. Eric Valencia,” he says.
Another cop at the scene asks the first officer to confirm the date Valencia was released.
He asks, “The twenty-third, right?”
“Yeah,” replies the first officer.
As the first officer unspools a roll of yellow crime scene tape to cordon off the area around the squad car, a second officer wearing a body cam approaches the vehicle.
“I think I might recognize him,” says the second officer.
“That’s for sure that Eric guy,” the second officer adds.
Why Valencia got in the car remains a mystery, as does his cause of death.
Azusa Police Chief Rocky Wenrick said at a press conference Monday that Valencia had passed wellness checks before his release from jail and that Valencia had a working cell phone with him in the back of the car.
Wenrick said the department is investigating what happened to Valencia, why the car was left unlocked, and why nobody noticed him there — even though it was parked in front of the police station all week long.
Valencia had no signs of trauma to his body at the time of his arrest, according to Wenrick. Police provided Valencia with extra food upon his release, he said.
Police station security camera footage shared by Azusa police shows Valencia getting into the a marked and unlocked squad car around lunchtime last Monday.
Valencia appears to be moving normally as he walks over to the vehicle and lets himself in the back door.
The car still hadn’t been moved three days later, when a worker hired by the department to clean the vehicle discovered Valencia’s corpse.
Typically, the rear doors of police vehicles automatically lock from the inside.
Wenrick said the squad car where Valencia died “should have been secured.”
Members of Valencia’s family said he was in good spirits and strong health before he died.
Michael Carrillo, an attorney who represents Valencia’s relatives, said the dead man’s family is exploring their legal options.
“Right now, the family just wants answers and justice,” said Carrillo.
“How did this come to be? How was it that he was left in that vehicle, for days?”
English (US)