ANAHEIM : Police Dept. Sued in Fatal Shooting

The mother of a mentally ill Westminster man who was shot to death by police last year when they mistook him for a burglar has sued the Anaheim Police Department, the officer who shot him and the managers of the apartment complex where he was killed.

Doy Thanong Mulford alleges in her lawsuit, filed in Orange County Superior Court, that her son’s civil rights and her own were violated in the fatal confrontation.

Charlie Mulford, 25, was shot in the upper body by Officer John Duran.

Police were called to Doy Mulford’s apartment in the 2500 block of East Ward Terrace on June 10, 1994, by managers of the complex, who told police they believed someone was breaking into the apartment, according to the suit.

The suit alleges that when Duran and another officer arrived, they saw Charlie Mulford, a diagnosed schizophrenic according to his mother, seated at a table inside the apartment and ordered him out. The officers tried to use pepper spray to subdue Charlie Mulford, but the canisters were defective. Shortly afterward, Duran shot him, the suit alleges.

Anaheim police have defended the officers’ actions. Police said that Mulford picked up a barbell and started moving toward the officers. Although the officers repeatedly told him to put the barbell down, Charlie Mulford lunged at Duran, and Duran shot him, police said.

The Orange County district attorney’s office investigated the case and concluded in January that Duran is not criminally liable for Charlie Mulford’s death, said Assistant Dist. Atty. Patrick Donahue.

Doy Mulford is also accusing the managers of the complex with making a false report of a burglary because they did not like guests spending the night in her apartment. Although Charlie Mulford lived in a Westminster board and care home, he frequently spent the night at his mother’s apartment, the suit says.