Family of man who got into parked Azusa police SUV and found dead days later files lawsuit
Family members saying they want “justice and answers” for a 37-year-old man who died inside a police SUV parked outside the Azusa Police Department have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging negligence on the part of officers tasked with overseeing the man’s well-being. The body of Eric Valencia, a father of two, was discovered in the back seat of a police vehicle on March 26, days after he had been released from police custody. Surveillance video shows Valencia climbing into the back seat of the unlocked police SUV, which was parked by the station awaiting maintenance. Civil rights attorneys representing Valencia’s family say he was suffering from alcohol withdrawal and psychosis and that police chose to release him from custody rather than get him help. The attorneys also accused police of not taking family members seriously when they reported Valencia missing, and of at one…