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

Categories: Crime-iny
Thumbnail image for Anaheim Police logo.jpg
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.'

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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43 comments
Jose Inclan
Jose Inclan

Riddle me this OC Weekly: When somebody makes a comment that doesn't meet your standards on race relations, you guys are quick to chastise and even ridicule comments on FB ... but somehow, the objectification of women (as shown on your new cover) is all good. Where is the threshold there?

Karen Yeom
Karen Yeom

...juan n juanita doe :D cute. hm, jack n jill... Who cares?

18usc241
18usc241 topcommenter

Maybe it's a slip up and they meant to write "Juan Dough"   ----->  Middle name: Imagonnasueyourass

vsanchez1623
vsanchez1623

Anaheim police may be calling their victim "Juan Doe" but at least they're investigating something. My husband was assaulted and left unconscious in Sacramento back in August and the DA refuses to prosecute because my husband is unable to identify who it was even though they arrested 5 known gang members right by the scene.Point of the story is who cares what they are calling the victim as long as they're doing something to get justice for him.

Holly Clark
Holly Clark

Its hard to say that's racist when Mexicans are the ones committing all the crimes in areas like Anaheim / Santa Ana so every time a cop does his job hes going to be racist right? I wish you were in their shoes for one week.......

Jose Inclan
Jose Inclan

OC, I don't think you read my message correctly. While I implicitly voiced my opinion against police brutality, I recognize that the "Juan Doe" remark is so outrageous, that it made me laugh. When you have been racially profiled and discriminated against for a few years you develop that twisted sense of humor. Maybe that's what you're missing OC Weekly. You should read your own Ask a Mexican column, you'll know what I'm talking about.

OC Weekly
OC Weekly

Jose: Tell that to the family of the poor guy who got beaten down!

Michael McCracken
Michael McCracken

When they add a little wit to racism I figure at least they tried. heh.

Jose Inclan
Jose Inclan

One of the attributes we have as Mexicans is the ability to laugh at ourselves. Racism, racial profiling, and police brutality are no laughing matter; however, Juan Doe ... Ha!

JD54
JD54

Seems rather beneficial to me. If they're looking for a suspect they determine is Hispanic, naming him "Juan Doe" tells us in an instant the person's race. Very handy for quick reference.

gabrielsanroman
gabrielsanroman topcommenter

@JD54 Except the victim was noted as Juan Doe, not the suspect. Try again!

Melissa Itty Bitty Murphy
Melissa Itty Bitty Murphy

to be fair though most of them deserved it or have we forgotten about the gang killing sprees that happened

OC Weekly
OC Weekly

Holly: You do realize the Anaheim PD has long been plagued by racism against Mexicans, right? From shooting unarmed ones to spying on Latino activists.

909Jeff
909Jeff topcommenter

@OC Weekly Gustavo... Who is posting under the banner of oc weekly? Is gabby posting as a sock puppet now?

Holly Clark
Holly Clark like.author.displayName 1 Like

So is it racist when a white guy is listed as John Doe? OC Weekly your just trying to make news out of anything now!

Logan Mora
Logan Mora

If he was black would it have been Jamal Doe?

Ray Man Wut
Ray Man Wut

I agree with jeremy, too many "hate whitey" stories.

Karl Irish
Karl Irish

Shouldn't that be Juan Dominguez? =P

Paul Jontig
Paul Jontig like.author.displayName 1 Like

That's actually really funny.... OC weekly would just love to try to spin a non issue into racism they're worse then pmsnbc

Karen Walker Marquez
Karen Walker Marquez

Jeremy your a douche! Not all white people are racist! Do not put all people in that category! You saying that makes you sound a bit racist yourself!

mophisto.waltz
mophisto.waltz like.author.displayName 1 Like

Anything to make white people look racist.... Gooooooooooooooo OC Weekly! You guys should be proud of yourselves, what an upstanding and educational publication... 


I dont always buy hookers and weed but when I do I buy it from the OC Weekly....stay classy my friends

Ari Diaz
Ari Diaz

someone in the OC said/did something racist - COMPLETELY SCHOCKING!!!

Wayne Barney
Wayne Barney like.author.displayName 1 Like

Yeah, lets' completely gloss over the human element of this story and focus on the stupid shit. BTW, that was some funny shit though. LMAO.

Jeremy Lee
Jeremy Lee

^^^ Because that wouldnt show how racist white people are Greg.....and we all know that the OC weekly only reports on Weed, hookers and racist white people

18usc241
18usc241 topcommenter

@Jeremy Lee and corrupt politicians and cops who are thrown out or go to jail or go to Austin ;)


Greg Chavez
Greg Chavez like.author.displayName 1 Like

Why isn't the story about the person who almost beat this man to death?

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