Anaheim Police Refers to Latino Assault Victim as 'Juan Doe' in Report

According to an internal Anaheim Police Department report obtained by the Weekly, officers responded on February 5, 2013 to an assault at a Shell Station near Disneyland. Upon arrival the victim was found laying down with bloody trauma to his face and head, injuries sustained after a ruthless series of kicks and stomps caught by a security camera.

“The report was generated as a result of an attempted homicide
investigation in which a Hispanic male was severely beaten and rendered
unconscious,” Public Information Officer Sergeant Bob Dunn says, confirming the content of our report. “He was unable to provide information on his identity or
give us contact information for his family.”

Whenever that's the case, the victim is usually, universally noted in law enforcement reports as 'John/Jane Doe' depending on gender. Not the Anaheim officer in this case: he wrote up the victim in the February assault as 'Juan Doe.'

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When alerted of this, Sgt. Dunn had the Department's Records Bureau look into any similar instances. “While it is uncommon to utilize Spanish translation in reference to unidentified persons, “John/Jane Doe”, it is not prohibited by policy,” he said.

Whatever the case may be, the practice is wholly unnecessary as there are plenty of Latinos who are actually named “John.” Some are even named “Jonathan” though their mamis pronounce it yoh-Nah-Tan!

Marvin Cifuentes was arrested not far from the scene of the assault in question. He now stands charged with, among other things, attempted murder. The Orange County District Attorney's Office is prosecuting the case.

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