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Chris more recently, and Chris on the high school baseball team.
One thing Anaheim spokesman Mike Lyster REALLY wants me to let people know is that homeless, 35-year old Chris Eisinger, somehow at death’s door after an encounter last week near Beach and Lincoln with five Anaheim cops, was NOT one of the 100+ homeless folks being sheltered by the county in West Anaheim motels, and never to anybody’s knowledge stayed at the Santa Ana Riverbed. So there’s no RATIONAL reason for this terrible and mystifying incident to add to the hysteria out in West Anaheim over the motel homeless. (Newsflash: those enjoying the rare luxury of a motel room and food voucher are not gonna be prowling through your yards at night.)
But that’s just talking rationally, which is quaint these days. This was the week that folks out in “Estherville,” already sick of their indigenous homeless, suddenly discovered that their local motels were now full of (well-behaving, very grateful) folks from the riverbed, enjoying temporary lodging while the county tries to figure out something more permanent somewhere, on the orders of Judge David Carter. It probably would have taken them a long time to notice, if they hadn’t read about it in the Register. But they were out in force at Tuesday’s Council meeting raising a great hue and cry about all the new barbarians at their gate!
So Eisinger, originally from Lakewood, picked a bad week to wander through some West Anaheim lady’s back yard, scale a fence, and try out car doors, if that’s what really happened. Forgive the skepticism of some of us who remember the Slidebar’s phony complaint that led to homeless Kelly Thomas’ murder by Fullerton police, or the stalker complaint that led to homeless Vincent Valenzuela (the wrong guy) being killed by Anaheim police. According to Chief Harvey though, this lady’s story and her terror were genuine. But what really happened when the cops arrived?
Daron Wyatt, Chief Harvey, mug shot of Eisinger.
We left today’s press conference, as they say, with more questions than answers. Chief among them, how does a guy magically get a cerebral edema, a swollen brain?
Again according to our new acting Chief, the four responding officers plus a supervising officer all had their body cameras running as they pursued Chris, as he ditched a stick, as he slipped and fell onto his buttocks, and as they spent 4-5 minutes trying to subdue and arrest him while he resisted with kicks and yelling.
Harvey watched all the footage repeatedly and insists that his officers behaved professionally, used restraint, never hit or tased him, DID use a “control hold” to subdue him but NOT a “carotid hold.” (The control hold involves restraining limbs in a painful way; the carotid restricts blood flow from the neck. Yes, that’d be the infamous carotid hold that killed Valenzuela, the carotid hold that Adolfo Sanchez was in when Daron Wyatt blew Adolfo’s brains out.)
Then there was the point that Chris stopped yelling and went limp, allowing the officers to handcuff him, and then notice that he was unconscious and “in medical distress.” They called for paramedics who determined that Chris was in full cardiac arrest, and took him to the hospital in stable condition. But there Chris was found to have mysteriously suffered a cerebral edema – severe brain swelling – and was now in serious condition. At this point Harvey requested a DA investigation into the incident, and initiated his own “incident response.”
No amount of perusal of the footage from these five body cameras gives Chief Harvey a clue as to how Chris could have sustained such an injury. And it’s not like any of us can help, as we won’t be allowed to see the footage till after the DA finishes HIS investigation. Meanwhile Chris languishes on a ventilator and could slip away at any moment.
Chris’ old Lakewood friend Matt LeGault (see video below) has always supported the police, but just can’t understand how this could have happened, and especially why the public can’t see the camera footage, just to make SURE it wasn’t the cops’ fault. Matt played baseball with Chris from a young age, and still refers to him as a “great kid” with “not a violent bone in his body. Well, sure he was always a sarcastic smartass, but he wouldn’t hurt a flea.” He feels terrible about having lost touch with Chris over the last couple years, and says that if he’d known his old friend had slipped into homelessness (and possibly drugs), he would have let him “stay on his couch in a heartbeat.”
Here’s hoping:
- That Chris Eisinger recovers.
- That we find out what caused his injury so we can make sure things like that stop happening.
- That affordable housing is provided for OC’s homeless, and the bourgeoisie get over their homelessphobia.
- And that next time (if there has to be one) we can see the body camera footage we pay so much money for, without having to wait half a year for Tony Rackauckas to be done playing with it.
https://www.facebook.com/limoguy714/videos/1851108048267373/
The Housewives of Glen Holly, are the ones who showed at council March 6th Jodie Mosley and Amanda Edinger Campaign Manager forSeve Chavez Lodge 2016 and now aid to Steve Faessel they are going to come down heard on Denise Barnes for now on…
At Tuesday’s council meeting good ol Sandra announced that the la Palma check in center would be closing in June but not to worry the Homeless can just use the storage facility for the Homeless in west Anaheim. Did someone forget to ask west Anaheim?
Vern thank you for mentioning my nephew’s name #vincentvalenzuela #ferminvincentvalenzuela As I sit here reading your Blog remembering that call I got from my brother telling me what happened to my nephew I knew right away that my nephew’s life was taken by ANAHEIM PD!! In the worst way!!
I felt in my heart that my nephew was not going to see his beautiful kids again he loves his kids! Every day of my LIFE I WILL ALWAYS THINK ABOUT HOW HIS LIFE ENDED!!
I will never forget or forgive MURDERING DANIEL WOLF FOR CHOKE THE LIFE OUT OF MY NEPHEW I HOPE Daniel Wolfe HAS A miserable life I hope he can’t sleep at night and remember my nephew’s VOICE asking for Help telling Wolfe he couldn’t breathe! There is no JUSTICE NO accountability for all their dirty deeds!!
KILLER KOPS WILL continue to murder because they can!!
Between POBR, “internal investigation” and DA investigations, release of public information can be stalled almost indefinitely. And even after all the folderol is over you’ll still probably need to hire a lawyer to fight your own elected officials to find out what really happened.
May I play devil’s advocate for a moment? First of all, we have to separate the definition, and societal response, between the homeless who need and deserve compassion and “street people” who prefer living a life without rules. And we have to admit even to ourselves that it is difficult, if not impossible, to separate the two by visible clues. The people of West Anaheim have been genuinely victimized by the kind of street people who give a bad name to the truly homeless who are down on their luck. Those in West Anaheim who have seen the hard work they put into their homes being sucked into a black hole of declining property values and eroding quality of life have every right to object to that outcome. For decades they have seen the City refuse to deal in good faith with them, deferring basic maintenance projects while focusing on the Resort. People who skip vacations to make sure the house gets painted have to watch helplessly while the City fails to maintain the public realm leading into their otherwise well-kept residential neighborhoods. This has been compounded by the City refusing (again, for decades) to crack down on the prostitution and drug dealers using the West Anaheim motel rooms as their place of business. So the “hysteria” as you call it has to be seen through the eyes of people who have no reason to believe the City is going to look out for their best interests. Please understand there are 2 sides to every story (and often even more than that.)
Now back to the criminal element who victimize other homeless and the surrounding neighborhoods by hiding behind the anonymity of homelessness. When addicts are looking for their next drug fix (every 6 hours, I believe?) and have no visible means of income, then where do you THINK they get their money? They steal from the local neighborhood, and those areas frequented by this criminal element have had to go into lockdown on a level many of us cannot comprehend. When we had a larger population traveling between Pearson and La Palma parks, I lost many items to garage purloining, including something worthless to those who took it, but irreplaceable to me, and only temporarily stored in the garage to keep it from being harmed in the house during a big, messy project. So I can get pretty testy about those who steal for their drug habit, while being compassionate about those who are simply trying to survive. Please stop demonizing everyone who wants to protect our own quality of life from falling victim to a crisis WE DID NOT CAUSE!
I don’t know what happened to this young man, and frankly neither do you. But I think Chief Harvey is a stand-up guy who will do the right thing and for right now I choose the give him the benefit of the doubt, while the default position around here is to attribute ALL harm to the fault of the PD. But if this young man was involved in drugs, then does it not play out that the drug use may have contributed to the medical issues that harmed him? Can we please consider more than one scenario in our knee-jerk reaction against all things homeowner and law enforcement?
Thank you.
Couple of clarifications that may have been buried in the story:
It’s understandable someone would complain about a stranger in their yard, trying out car doors. I tried to emphasize that this guy was not one of the homeless people being temporarily sheltered by the county in West Anaheim motels. It was the people in the motels that the Jodie and friends were complaining about Tuesday, and I don’t think they would have even known they were there if the Register hadn’t told them.
And also, how does a guy who wasn’t hit by the cops, didn’t get his head banged during that encounter etc, suddenly sustain a life-threatening cerebral edema? We all want to know, especially people who knew Chris, and we all want to see the footage for ourselves, sooner rather than later. Maybe it will eventually make sense. But it’s impossible to forget the history, including Kelly Thomas and Vincent Valenzuela.
I think that’s all fair enough. It ain’t knee-jerk nothing.
Vern you stupid sideliner. Were you there? If so get you ass down there with footage and a statement of truth. With the police there are no stand up people they lie to keep their jobs and truthful people off their back‘s
You’re about 27 months late with this request. But thanks for your support of Orange Juice Blog!
If this is really Chris’ mom, I don’t know what you’re mad at ME about.
Cynthia Ward…the footage that has yet to be released obviously shows him fall on his “buttocks” otherwise it wouldn’t be in the Chief Harvey’s report….
I find it hard for drugs to play a part of his condition. He didn’t have a heart attack or overdose. He fell on his ass not his head. I knew Chris for almost 25 years. He was a great friend who had fell onto some hard times but that’s life. We’ll never hear his side of the story. He passed today. Rest in peace my friend
Vern, I believe you meant to write “edema.”
I’m not a doctor so I don’t know about the incidence of idiopathic intracranial edema, but the general condition can cover non-trauma stuff like meningitis and other infections.
Very high body temperature can cause edema. Excited Delirium causes high temperature and erratic behavior. Paramedics and hospitals can treat it if discovered quickly; however, once cardiac arrest and organ failure start the prognosis is not good.
Excited delirium! The abusive cop’s best friend.
Chris passed on today…
Yes, they pulled the plug on Chris yesterday; his brother Nick held him in his arms as his heart stopped beating; his father was also there.
For my story’s economy I’d left off a few details of the press conference. Harvey and Wyatt had made a point to tell us – knowing that the beat-up state of Chris’ face would soon be public knowledge – that he had had some kind of brawl two weeks earlier, and sustained TWO BLACK EYES.
Well, yes, that did happen, two weeks before the March 2 incident, Chris did get two black eyes (around Valentine’s Day that is.) Now that I’ve spoken to his brother Nick, I know that Chris came by and stayed in one of Nick’s two vans after that incident. He stayed until his black eyes were pretty much faded away. And Nick got this picture of him sleeping, just a few days before March 2…
So, his messed up face in the hospital was a NEW situation. This is him on the day he died (after 8 days of facial healing from the March 2 arrest)
Computing less than ever.
I went to school with Chris and will forever remember his contagious beautiful smile! May he Rest In Peace. I pray for peace and comfort for his family during such a tragic time and Chris gets the justice he deserves ❤️
I am sorry for the passing of this man, and I pray his family is given the answers they deserve.
I not only grew up with Chris I also knew him well into being an adult. We went to the same schools, had the same friends, the same classes. He was a great athlete , always smiling and nice to everyone.
I live in Seal beach and shopped at Albertsons before they changed to Gelsons. Chris was the manager there. In order to be a manager gor a supermarket for that long you had to be a good guy. Right? I assume he lost his job in the switch and became homeless
It’s not easy to believe that such a great person suddenly became a person described in this story . I don’t buy it for one second. Once again these cops are the ones to blame. Doesn’t anyone see the need for change here. Chris RIP