.
.
.
She is a thorn in the side of the Anaheim Police Department. At least, that’s what she has been told.
Theresa Smith is the mother of Caesar Cruz, a 35-year-old Fullerton resident who was shot by Anaheim police officers in a Wal-Mart parking lot in 2009. Cruz was married for 12 years and had five sons.
Frustrated with the lack of information from authorities regarding his death, Smith has organized and led weekly protests outside the Anaheim Police Department.
Despite protesting each week at the heavily trafficked intersection, most Orange County residents may not know who she is. She’s been there with family and supporters for over a year and a half yet Cruz’s death has long fallen off the public’s radar.
Orange County Register, ABC7 News and OC Weekly reported the story of her son’s death and a family vigil. In March 2010, her protests also received coverage from those media outlets. However, Smith said, she hasn’t been contacted by the media since.
There is one thing she wants to make clear to authorities: she wants justice for her son and she will not stop until she gets it.
Smith had tried for many months to follow up with the Orange County District Attorney and the Anaheim Police Department regarding her son’s death. She said was unable to receive any information from either agency.
Read more at my blog The Other Side of the Tracks
The story of the parking lot shooting presses for answers…why did the police open fire??
And why were they stopping Caesar in the first place? He was no longer a parolee. Was it a lawful stop? The DA does not investigate police policy and the Anaheim PD won’t give any info about their investigation.
So many questions and no answers. There’s a chance that the public may never know what really happened. Recently Theresa told me the protective order for the civil case may be permanent.
And I am not going to even bother feeding the troll below. There are dozens of people who will attest to Caesar putting his family first before anything. There’s also our second amendment right to bear arms. In any case, the family had not seen any evidence produced of a gun. Many have told me he was harassed by police constantly, for all we know, if he did indeed have one- maybe he was trying to protect his family. But we don’t know what happened. We don’t know if he had a gun or not, or if it was even used.
And Theresa’s persistence may have led to the DA’s new transparency policy – since it was requested by Chief Welter just months after he received the letter from the DA exonerating the officers. So I think we should thank her and all the other families who have fought for answers in these types of cases for the details we received yesterday in the Kelly Thomas case.
Yes, so many questions and no answers. When was this undercover blunder? Nighttime? No witnesses in the parking lot?
And yes, a big thank you to Theresa Smith for her vigilance. Every step is a building block towards justice.
And a thank you for writing this story and keeping it alive.
Two problems here: Why did a man of 5 children have a gun in the car? And why does it take more than one police man too fire his weapon?
Answer: Another hispanic man choosing stupidity over his family and cops who should not be cops!
The fullerton police need to train better and hispanic men have got to put their family first!
MQ: It was a Fullerton resident and ANAHEIM police. You might want to do another read through.
Ok, so the ANAHEIM AND FULLERTON police need to pick better cops, not thugs! The police need to be trained better and need to be removed if they don’t cut it. But OF COURSE the police union is VERY strong and corrupt and of course bad cops can’t be fired and the police union will not allow training to weed out bad cops!
But, the moral of the story is most likely the guy was a gang member, cause good, innocent men don’t carry a weapon in their car unless they are thinking they may need it! It’s a cultural problem and we need too make it clear that if you join a gang you go straight to jail, no bulls&&& gang prevention programs…Complete waste of money. Jail the parents and then jail the kids….WHAM, no gangs!
Shut up, troll.
*fist bump*
I want to add a very poignant comment left on my original article on Fullerton Stories:
Marie Diehl on September 10, 2011 at 10:50 am
Caesar was my nephew and this tragedy has affected so many who knew and loved Caesar. He was an amazing person, loving, charismatic, loyal, honest, hard working and very dedicated to his family. He was one of the best and most loving fathers I have ever known. We had several deep conversations the last 2 years of his life and he was working so hard to turn his life around and become an example to his sons and change the path so that they would travel a road different from the one he had traveled. He was frustrated by the constant harrassment he endured from law enforcement, but determined and continued to try to change his life and make it better. He had accepted our Lord Jesus Christ into his life and was beginning to attend and enjoy church with his family. He was so proud of his sons and so enjoyed working with them, other children, and the coaching staff at the football league. It is so sad that people can be such bigots and not allow a person who is trying so hard change their life path and move forward to a better life for themselves and their loved ones. Anyone who had the honor of knowing Caesar was blessed with having known him, and enriched by that relationship. The way he was shot down like a rabid dog by a bunch of overanxious, cowboy minded cops makes me sick to my stomach, sick in my heart, and I have shed many a tear over this ugly situation.
And of course the most important part is left out….If the guy was a loving, amazing person, WHY then did he have a piece of steel in his car, that can blow a hole in a persons head?
Rubbish, the man was a criminal and that is why they were tipped off about him. Most likely the tip came from a member of the public!
Thank you for reflecting the very ignorance that kept this story out of the OC MSM media. BRAVO!