Boom!! Wake Up Tower District thats the Sound of the Police - Pictures and Report

The officer pictured without the badge towards the bottom of this posting, 2nd picture to last, is not a lieutenant. He is actually a negotiator, and the pictures of the masked Lieutenant will be posted later.

fyi the color of an officers patch signifies his rank. white is a regular cop, yellow is a supervisor.

FYI, that's not an AK-47. It is either an M-16 or its "civilian" counterpart, the semiautomatic AR-15.

Wasn't able to muster the energy to look at the rest of the pics tonight. So I will do my best to post the rest of the pics by tomorrow night.

this is good work. thanks, upton. copwatch!

Here is the link to the rest of the pics that I took at the raid yesterday - http://www.indybay.org/news/2005/11/1781300.php

and here is a link to Fresno Bee article on the police raid and another story about the Fresno Police and their use of excessive force in another incident(posted below).

11/05/05 - Dog killed in standoff
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/11443134p-12184933c.html
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and here is another story that appeared right below the story about the raid in the Tower District.

Lawsuits accuse Fresno police of excessive force

By Vanessa Colón / The Fresno Bee

(Updated Saturday, November 5, 2005, 6:11 AM)

Family and friends of a Marine who served in Iraq are battling Fresno police about arrests made after a fight at a welcome-home party.

The celebration for George Rendon, who served in Iraq for eight months, ended with the arrest of the 22-year-old and 13 of his friends and relatives. In two civil lawsuits, three of them accuse Fresno police of overreacting and using excessive force when officers entered a Fresno home on March 5 and injured three people.

Police Chief Jerry Dyer says his officers reacted to being attacked at the home by out-of-control partygoers.

Police said they responded to a disturbance call in the 4500 block of East Mono Avenue and found people fighting. When officers tried to intervene, they were punched, kicked and attacked by several of the partygoers, who refused to listen to their commands, police said.

Officers fought back and partygoers Gabriel Michael Rodriguez, 32, of Clovis; John Nunez Jr., 39, of Fresno; and Lawrence Rendon, 30, of Coarsegold were taken to University Medical Center for injuries from police batons, according to the police report. All three were arrested on obstruction charges.

"Their constitutional rights were violated by committing assault, arrest and imprisonment," said Kenneth Brakebill, the attorney representing the Rodriguez family. "Our clients were inside the home. One of the officers ran through the front door and started to beat my clients."

Dyer said his officers acted appropriately to quell a dangerous situation: "We are very fortunate that our officers were not seriously injured when considering the vicious attacks on them by these individuals who were obviously intoxicated and out of control."

Fourteen people were arrested on suspicion of obstruction, resisting an officer, fighting in a public place and battery, Dyer said. Three sergeants, 16 officers, a police-dog handler and two transportation units responded to the disturbance. Dyer said an internal investigation is ongoing.

Rendon and Rodriguez family members said they weren't fighting, but that two men were shouting at each other before police arrived. They said they never assaulted the officers.

Dyer said two officers suffered injuries including back, head and neck pain; scratches, bruising, swelling and abrasions.

Gabriel and Rebecca Rodriguez of Clovis filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in August against the department and one of its officers, alleging police used excessive and unjustified force. Officer Marcus Tafoya is accused in the civil complaint of beating Gabriel Rodriguez with his baton, causing blood to gush from his head, and of striking Rebecca Rodriguez, 29, as she tried to shield her husband from the blows. Rebecca Rodriguez was also arrested.

Gabriel Rodriguez required four staples to close his head wound, according to the complaint.

David Anthony Rendon, who filed a separate civil-rights complaint in August, said he never assaulted officers. Rendon, 32, of San Martin, alleges Tafoya and Sgt. Michael Manfredi fabricated police reports. He said, in the complaint, that the arrest cost him his job as a correctional officer. Rendon, George Rendon's brother, faces three counts of obstruction and battery charges.

Also arrested on various charges were: Lorenzo Nunez, 25; Priscilla Rose Rendon, 21; Alfred Hernandez, 28; David Joe Rendon, 51; Ricardo Rendon, 26; Vivian Centeno, 32; Lupe Eleanor Martinez, 25; and Ralph Christopher Rendon, 24.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 22 in a Fresno courtroom.

Fresno police describe a different scene in which several men at the home attacked Tafoya and Manfredi, who arrived to a mob scene. Police said David Anthony Rendon struck Tafoya on the left side of his mouth. Tafoya, at one point, told David Joe Rendon to get on the ground, then was hit in the head by Gabriel Rodriguez, according to the police report.

Ralph Rendon punched Manfredi twice in the face and attempted to get Manfredi's gun, Dyer said.

Other partygoers also attacked police, the report says. Officers learned that many of the partygoers are gang members and yelled "Bulldogs" during the fight, Dyer said.

Claudia Rendon, wife of David Anthony Rendon, said nobody involved was a gang member, but that Ralph Rendon has a Bulldog tattoo because it's a symbol of the Marines.

Several members of the Rendon family, including Ralph Rendon, served in the Marines, she said.

The three people who filed complaints against the department don't have a history of arrests, according to Fresno County Superior Court records. But two other men at the party had prior felony arrests for car theft, possession of drugs and writing a bad check.
The reporter can be reached at vcolon [at] fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6313.