A California man named Thomas Perez Jr. received a $900,000 settlement from the city of Fontana after enduring a harrowing 17-hour police interrogation in 2018. Key details of the case are Perez reported his 71-year-old father missing after he didn't return from walking the dog. Police interrogated Perez for 17 hours, falsely claiming they had found his father's body and pressuring him to confess. Officers denied Perez sleep, medication, and threatened to euthanize his dog. Under extreme duress, Perez falsely confessed to killing his father and attempted suicide in the interrogation room.
Perez's father was found alive at Los Angeles International Airport, but police did not immediately inform Perez. Perez filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, alleging unconstitutional psychological torture.