Police shoot man in the back as he flees, California family says. They released video
The family of a Tulare man killed by police released video this week they said shows he was not a threat to officers, who shot him in the back as he fled.
Joel Villegas was killed by Tulare police about 3:15 p.m. April 16 after a 911 caller reported seeing someone in the area of Bardsley Ave and Vetter Street with a knife, Tulare police said in a news release.
Villegas, 34, was remembered by family as a doting father and a person others wanted to be around because he made them smile.
“What they did was wrong,” older brother Armando Villegas said. “It was unfair to his wife and kids and family. He mattered.”
His family released video from a Tulare officer’s body-worn camera that shows the officer yelling commands as Villegas runs away from him. At one point he trips, before getting up again and continuing to flee.
The video shows Villegas never advanced on police before officers fired several rounds. Officers in the video can be heard saying Villegas was not breathing before an officer begins CPR.
The shooting was “so egregious,” according to Dale Galipo, the attorney representing one of Villegas’s sons and his father.
“I must say, on its face, it’s pretty shocking,” he said, adding he’s been involved in hundreds of officer-involved shooting cases. “It ranks up there with one of the worst shootings I’ve ever seen.”
The state Department of Justice took over the investigation as an AB 1506 investigation, which most typically involve cases of police fatally shooting an unarmed person.
Police can be heard in the video saying Villegas had a knife. It’s difficult to see any knife in the video.
The DOJ also identified the officers involved as Daniel Bradley and Adan Barragan. An update from the Tulare Police Department said they were expected to remain on paid administrative leave until the investigation by the DOJ was complete.
Barragan was hired as a police trainee in 2020 and then as an officer in 2021. Bradley became a Tulare officer in 2018, according to Human Resources for the city of Tulare.
Family of Joel Villegas files lawsuit against Tulare
The family has filed a claim for damages with the city of Tulare, a common step before a family can file a lawsuit.
Villegas left behind four children and three step-children who called him “Dad,” according to his widow, Delilah Navarro.
“He was very funny, caring, respectful, hard-working,” she said. “He loved being a family man and taking care of kids.”
Villegas worked construction, landscaping and handyman jobs, finding work where he could, his family said. That meant he switched companies often to go where the work was.
He had begun staying with his sister not far from the location where he was shot by police, his family said.
Navarro said she had not seen Villegas for about a month — they were going through relationship issues — but remembers getting a call that day he’d been shot by police.
“They’re supposed to be helping us, protecting us and then they do this,” she said. “They all need to be held accountable for what they did to Joel.”
She said his children miss their father, and it’s not clear if all of the younger ones, like 2-year-old Derek, grasp that he’s not coming back.
The elder Villegas said his brother was well liked and the kids in the family were big fans of him. One of the elder’s sons called his uncle his best friend.
“Joel was the one everybody wanted to be with,” the older brother said. “He made everybody smile.”
Villegas was a sports fan who grew up with soccer and football, and looked forward to coaching his children. He was known to wear Green Bay Packers gear, family said.
The elder Villegas said the family hasn’t been able to bring themselves to watch the body-worn camera video, but have been told what unfolds.
“There was never a Taser, never a baton. They outnumbered him,” he said. “If you don’t see what’s wrong with that picture, something’s wrong. “
A pending lawsuit
Tulare Police Chief Fred Ynclan spoke during a news conference in the days following the fatal shooting of Villegas, but he took no questions and directed questions to the DOJ, according to a Visalia Times-Delta report.
Police declined to provide updates on Thursday, again pointing questions to the DOJ.
Galipo, the family attorney, noted police are allowed to use deadly force if they or another person are in immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury.
“At the time the shots are fired, he’s not an immediate threat to anyone,” he said. “It’s really pretty shocking especially the shots as he’s going down and even on the ground.”
