Authorities ID man who died after Fullerton officers shot him with bean bags, stun gun during arrest

A man who died after Fullerton police officers shot him with bean bag rounds and a stun gun last week outside a McDonald’s restaurant has been identified.

He was Alejandro Campos Rios, 50, the Fullerton Police Department said Monday. The agency said Rios had a P.O. Box in Buena Park but was homeless.

Rios died at a hospital following the early morning encounter in the 1300 block of South Brookhurst Road, near Orangethorpe Avenue, on Wednesday, March 6.

Rios was hit with at least one of bean bag round, police said, which hit him in the chest and penetrated his skin. He was also shocked with a stun gun during the encounter.

Two officers who were at the scene were placed on administrative leave “per standard practice” of the Fullerton Police Department, said Sgt. Ryan O’Neil.

“They should be returning to work to work later this week,” O’Neil said.

Police went to the McDonald’s after a manager called them reporting two men outside the restaurant acting erratically. Footage obtained by OC Hawk showed Rios and the other man, who has not been identified, gesturing and apparently dancing, but otherwise not acting aggressively.

The footage then cuts to the police response, with at least one officer pointing a handheld device at Rios, shirtless and swinging a belt wildly.

One of the officers fires a series of bean bag rounds at Rios — from the footage, at least six were fired. At some point during the encounter, police said a stun gun was also fired.

After the sixth bean bag round was fired at Rios, the man could be seen in the footage getting on one knee while clutching at his chest. The other man who was with him runs past the officers who are slowly advancing on Rios.

The footage then cuts again to officers and paramedics tending to Rios as he lie on the ground with bandages covering his chest.

O’Neil said the man who ran from the scene was later found and interviewed by officers.

The Orange County District Attorney’s office is investigating the encounter and has already interviewed both officers, O’Neil said.

Source: Orange County Register