Fontana has agreed to pay more than $3.2 million to the family of Jaime Valdez, a 33-year-old unarmed man who was fatally shot by a police officer during a mental health crisis in November 2023. The settlement closes a lawsuit that accused Officer Alex Yanez of excessive force after Valdez was shot three times in the driveway of his uncle's home.
According to the San Bernardino Sun, the bullets struck Valdez once in the back of the head and twice in his left shoulder. Yanez responded to the home around 7:30 p.m. on November 11, 2023, after a 911 caller said a cousin was on drugs and threatening to kill the family, and he found Valdez lying in the driveway. Yanez identified himself as an officer and asked Valdez if he was okay or needed an ambulance, but Valdez did not respond to his initial questions.
How the Encounter Escalated
Yanez told Valdez he could not go back inside and ordered him to remove his backpack and put his hands behind his back, then threatened to handcuff him if he continued speaking disrespectfully, the newspaper's report on the family's lawsuit states. Valdez appeared to resist Yanez's attempt to handcuff him, and the lawsuit alleged that Valdez had difficulty responding to commands because of drugs and mental health issues, and that Yanez's stronger commands and louder voice confused and agitated him further.
Yanez then attempted to use his Taser, but it was ineffective, according to the same report. Fontana police said Valdez reached for Yanez's handgun before grabbing his Taser, at which point Yanez fired three shots. The family's lawsuit, filed by Valdez's mother, stepdaughter and daughter in 2024, accused Yanez of excessive force and alleged he did not use proper de-escalation techniques or seek help from supervisors or mental health professionals.
Police Account and DOJ Findings
Fontana police have said Yanez was violently assaulted before he shot Valdez, and that responding officers attempted life-saving measures immediately after the shooting. Per the department's account, Yanez was treated at a hospital and returned to work afterward, and he remains employed with the Fontana Police Department. Police posted edited body-worn camera footage of the incident in July 2024, roughly eight months after the shooting.
The California Department of Justice, which investigates police shootings that kill an unarmed person, concluded in February that there was insufficient evidence to criminally prosecute Yanez. The agency recommended that Fontana police evaluate and potentially revise its evidence documentation and preservation policies, and separately recommended the department publish its standards, policies, practices, procedures, education and training on its public information portal for transparency, the Sun reported.
Settlement and Family's Response
The parties agreed to settle the lawsuit in May, and according to court documents, the case was formally dismissed on November 4. Michael Carrillo, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, said the settlement has been paid out and that the shooting was an unjustified use of force against an unarmed man who posed no threat to Yanez.
Carrillo said his clients miss their father and son, and that no amount of money can replace him, though the settlement offers some closure. He said he hopes the case will signal that Fontana police and other regional law enforcement agencies will be held accountable. City officials did not immediately respond to questions about the lawsuit and settlement, per the Sun's reporting.
A Recurring Pattern in California
Valdez's death fits into a broader pattern documented statewide. The Public Policy Institute of California found that between 2017 and 2023, an average of about 435 people were seriously injured and 150 were killed each year during law enforcement encounters statewide, with more than half of those incidents involving reported behavioral health conditions. The same research notes that California's eight largest police departments stopped 2 million people in 2023, and reported that 2% — roughly 41,000 people — had a mental health condition or were placed on a psychiatric hold.
Separate reporting from The Guardian, drawing on a Washington Post database, found that California police shot and killed at least 274 people experiencing a mental health crisis between 2015 and 2024 — more than any other state. PPIC has also pointed to crisis intervention teams that include health providers as an approach that can improve outcomes by reducing arrests and increasing access to medical services.
Other California cases involving fatal police shootings during mental health crises have recently resulted in large payouts, though each involved its own facts and legal outcome. A Los Angeles jury awarded roughly $11 million to the family of Wilver Blanco, who was shot by LAPD officers while holding a folding knife during a mental health episode in 2024, according to the Los Angeles Times. A federal jury separately awarded $51.8 million to the family of Antonio Garza in a fatal shooting involving San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies, per NBC Los Angeles.
