Man is brain dead after confrontation with Montclair police

A 42-year-old man was declared brain dead days after a violent confrontation with police, and now his family is questioning the Montclair Police Department’s account of what happened and why he used force against him.

Antonio Ibanez is on life support at Montclair Hospital Medical Center after police used a Taser and batons to detain him on March 5, said Humberto Guizar, the Ibanez family attorney. Guizar said the family believed Ibanez needed help when officers were called to the 4100 block of Mission Boulevard after midnight when someone reported a man with an object threatening a woman.

The woman who called police was in her car with her daughters when she was confronted by the suspect, authorities said. She believed he was under the influence of drugs, police said.

Ibanez rented a room in the woman’s house, Guizar said.

“When officers attempted to arrest the suspect, force was used,” police said. “Once detained, medical assistance was requested.”

Guizar said he and the Ibanez family found inconsistencies in the police account. Although he reached out several times, he said, the Ibanez family has not heard from the police department about what happened.

“The police department hasn’t been very transparent,” Guizar said, adding that the Ibanez family was considering legal action.

Montclair police said they turned the investigation over to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

Relatives are also questioning why it took police officers five days to release details of the incident to the public.

Guizar said he and other family attorneys interviewed the woman who called the police and she did not mention that Ibanez was armed during the incident.

“If that were the case, we want to hear the 911 call,” Guizar said.

The Ibanez family made a series of public records requests, hoping to obtain copies of the 911 call, body camera footage and radio traffic to better understand what happened. .

“Based on our interview, we talked about (the woman who called 911) he was acting weird, just weird, and so she was worried he was hurting himself or someone, so she called for help,” he said. “There was no immediate threat to harm anyone.”