Police forced a man to confess to a murder he did not commit (4 photos + 1 video)
A Fontana, California man got partial justice by suing the police department for $900,000 in damages. The story goes like this: the man claimed that his father went out for a walk with the dog and never came home. The police then interrogated him for 17 hours and forced him to confess to “killing” his father. How? It’s very simple. 
It happened on August 7, 2018. Thomas Perez Jr., then 30, reported his father missing after he failed to return home from a walk with his dog, and the family became concerned. Thomas was taken to the Fontana Police Department for questioning, and several detectives spent 17 hours grilling him, eventually leading to him confessing to the murder.
A murder he not only did not commit, but did not even happen. 
Perez before questioning
According to court documents, detectives told Perez his father was dead and presented false evidence linking him to the alleged murder. The officers told Perez that police had found blood stains throughout the house and that a police dog had detected the presence of a dead body. They even brought in Perez's beloved dog and threatened to euthanize it, claiming it was traumatized and "depressed" after witnessing the alleged crime. 
Police brought in Perez's dog and threatened to euthanize it
One of the investigators reportedly told Perez, "How can you sit here and say you don't know what happened when your dog is looking at you, knowing that you killed your father? Look at your dog, he knows because he went through all that blood."
The pressure Perez was allegedly under was so intense that he confessed to a crime he didn't commit - a crime that didn't even happen. He described a scene in which he said he stabbed his father several times with scissors.
During interrogation, Perez became hysterical, tearing his hair, tearing off his clothes, and hitting himself. When he pleaded with police for medical attention, he was told he did not need psychiatric medication. Left alone in the interrogation room, Perez attempted to commit suicide by hanging himself with the cord of his shorts.
U.S. District Court Judge Dolly Gee said Perez's confession was based on lies as a result of being psychologically pressured, deprived of rest and sleep, and, most importantly, experiencing withdrawal symptoms from the medications his psychiatrist had prescribed and that he was required to take on a regular basis.
The next day, Thomas's sister told authorities that their father was alive and well - he had gone to visit a woman the day before and stayed there. 
The man was subjected to psychological pressure and became hysterical
However, instead of telling Perez about this, he was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital for three days. According to Perez's lawyer, the entire time his client was convinced that both his father and the dog were dead.
When he was released, he filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Fontana, which culminated in an $898,000 settlement. Perez agreed to the settlement, fearing that the jury's decision could be overturned on appeal due to police officers' qualified immunity.
"This case shows that if the police are skilled enough and interrogate you hard enough, they can get anyone to confess to anything," Perez's attorney said. The judge criticized the detectives' tactics, noting that their actions led to Perez's false confession and suicide attempt.
Despite the settlement, the Fontana Police Department has yet to comment on the matter. One of the officers involved in Perez's interrogation has since retired. The other three are still with the city's police department.
