Premium Episode #32 - Thomas Perez
Added 2024-11-23 08:11:07 +0000 UTCWhen 71-year-old Thomas Perez Senior failed to return home after a short walk to his mailbox in Fontana, California, his son Tom wasn’t overly concerned. He suspected his father had just gone to visit friends or family and would return home of his own accord. But when police arrived at the Perez home to complete a missing person’s report, they came to suspect something else entirely.
Team:
Anonymous Host - narration
Milly Raso - research, writing, creative direction
Mike Migas - production, music
Andrew D.B. Joslyn - music
Comments
I felt so angry listening to this. That poor man and his son will never fully recover from such trauma.
Danielle
2025-03-10 16:50:26 +0000 UTCYup. Oakland cops are awesome. They have such a great track record.
Turd Mcfurgason
2024-12-24 07:00:45 +0000 UTCNever forget: all cats are beautiful
Kwizats
2024-12-07 18:05:51 +0000 UTCI was yelling damn right at the end!!!!!
Rachel Mason
2024-12-04 18:28:05 +0000 UTCPOWERFUL episode to finish this season on. Bravo!!!!!!!
Rachel Mason
2024-12-04 18:27:48 +0000 UTCI have never been so pissed off and dumbfounded listening to a true crime story…. Havent gotten to the end yet so I hope they sued the shit out of these people.
Beth Vandehey
2024-12-03 01:16:54 +0000 UTCCasefile, y’all can and *should* do more to inform listeners of their legal rights. You simply covered the facts of what happened to Tom when you could have taken the time to point out *how* his rights were violated. You explained the cops’ right to lie, but that’s not far enough. If you support victims, you should do more to help others avoid victimization. Do not talk to cops on their terms, even if you’re innocent. Do not consent to entrance to your home or searches without a warrant. If you’re not under arrest, you cannot be indefinitely detained. Repeat: “am I free to leave”?, do not answer questions. If under arrest, DO NOT speak without a lawyer present. Wait and be silent. The cops can lie, but silence is your RIGHT.
Ira Finn
2024-12-01 00:01:48 +0000 UTCRandom - Is this the last episode for 2024?
Abhi Ram
2024-11-29 23:24:05 +0000 UTCYea, I was just waiting to hear their dog has been put down. It wouldn't have surprised me any. I'm usually on the police's side but when they do stuff like this, it really makes me want them to pay.
Troy Janise
2024-11-29 23:09:55 +0000 UTCBUT THE DOG
Janessia Pikiell
2024-11-28 02:57:36 +0000 UTCIt will eventually be released on the main feed.
Eileen
2024-11-26 04:29:42 +0000 UTCYou learn something new every day!
Eileen
2024-11-26 04:29:04 +0000 UTCPSA: the officers didn't change "tact" in the interrogation, they changed *tack*. It's so bizarre that police officers are allowed to just straight up lie. Seems like asking for exactly the kind of problems this episode describes.
Kristin Røe
2024-11-25 18:28:07 +0000 UTCHoly cow. I just can’t even process how frightening this is.
Melissa55
2024-11-25 16:00:07 +0000 UTCViolence and extortion at the hands of police is not as niche as we would like to think. Fear of the police is not rare or irrational.
Kahlil B
2024-11-25 06:23:03 +0000 UTCQuite right! Those protesters were speaking out against this EXACT type of misjustice, that is all too prevalent across the country. Scan the Casefile catalog for plenty of evidence that police across this country and others are putting quotas, force and prejudice above truth, justice and evidence. We need a new system. We need regulation. We need better than the police system we have. Police are involved in far too much corruption and injustice against the innocent—no matter your skin color. BLM, justice for us all.
Kahlil B
2024-11-25 06:20:10 +0000 UTCWow this was infuriating af. Great episode as always.
Andrea Johnson
2024-11-24 19:43:12 +0000 UTCI just visited the Fontana PD's Facebook page and it's disturbing to see the lack of recognition of wrong doing. I feel like this episode should be released to the public(not just a premium episode)
Dee Dee
2024-11-24 16:19:09 +0000 UTCYeah I was concerned. I knew he was innocent from a few moments in
iagas
2024-11-24 07:49:49 +0000 UTCSameee 😭😭 It hit wayyyy to close to home 🥺
Jays
2024-11-24 07:23:23 +0000 UTCI don't think it's niche at all; a huge number of true crime cases deal with false confessions, wrongful convictions, and/or outrageous police behavior, and i can't imagine that I'm the only person who gets deeply upset and anxious when listening to them. As a general rule i try to avoid wrongful conviction episodes (if i get a heads up) unless i know there's a positive resolution (or likely to be one) because they make me feel so upset and anxious and helpless to do anything. Again, i can't imagine I'm alone, and I just think it would be nice if we added this topic to the list of things that we already know and accept can create distress in listeners.
AR
2024-11-24 06:44:20 +0000 UTCThe "riot provoking mobs" were not mobs nor rioters but rather protesters who were protesting exactly this same kind of police abuse. The police and conservative media tried hard to depict those protests as inherently violent and non-peaceful, but the vast majority of them were peaceful despite being met with a huge militarized over-response by police. In reality, it sounds like you and the protesters are on the same side.
AR
2024-11-24 06:39:08 +0000 UTCkinda spoils the whole plot
Oisin Maher
2024-11-24 05:17:04 +0000 UTCThank you for potential reasons to my question.
Dawn E
2024-11-24 04:54:34 +0000 UTCFontana’s cops and the rural mentality sound a lot like great swaths of this country with demographics playing into how justice is administered and to whom. This hell bent attitude to make things fit their narrative and prejudicial views covers the gambit— too bad if they do this to an innocent person. It definitely isn’t a case of justice —sadly. I can see many Toms confessing in these circumstances. Too bad we can’t administer justice to the head of riot provoking mobs resulting in law enforcement deaths and injuries but we can do this and shoot innocent civilians
Jennifer L
2024-11-24 04:45:20 +0000 UTCdon’t worry there was resolve at the end🙃
Oisin Maher
2024-11-24 03:37:56 +0000 UTCWhat a shit show. I can't believe we let cops get away with this shit all the time. Gross abuse of authority resulting in mental, emotional and physical harm? Paid holiday and a wet bus ticket on the wrist.
mint mate
2024-11-24 01:42:46 +0000 UTCSopped listening after the whole dog thing. That’s such vile behavior.
Tilman Regelin
2024-11-24 00:34:50 +0000 UTCI know the intent of the comment is not such, but that's victim blaming. We have no insight into his r/shp with his sister - maybe their estranged. He rang the cops to report his concerns and did not deserve what happened over the next few days.
Abhi Ram
2024-11-23 23:54:51 +0000 UTCThat one hit unexpectedly hard. I lost one of my dogs last month and I’ve been helping my elderly dad through some health problems. 😭 Also might have been a little tipsy while listening. 🤷🏻♀️
Brenda Wells
2024-11-23 22:19:52 +0000 UTCThank goodness. Thank you for your comment. I came here before I even finished the episode just to find out. 😅
Jaye Leppky
2024-11-23 22:08:38 +0000 UTCShould've been $8m!
Iain Strachan
2024-11-23 21:07:23 +0000 UTCThe first solution is no cop immunity. Any lawsuit won against the police force should be payed out by their pensions, not by the taxpayer. That, plus an automatic blacklist from becoming a cop anywhere else in the US. In my job, if I screw up, I lose my licensure, job, and career reputation. They should be held to the same, if not higher, standards. Miranda rights being read can still be virtually useless for those who don’t speak the language, have difficulties comprehending, poor literacy, and those who are mentally ill. The burden to ensure due process is done correctly should lie on the authority figure, not the everyday citizen.
Kayla
2024-11-23 20:41:14 +0000 UTCI work in the forensics field and used to work in the same county where Fontana lies— a very conservative and cop-centered county (politically). I can confirm that the police there are a particularly special kind of garbage. It’s not the Southern California people tend to think about. It’s a massive county with small town, rural mentality. Fontana specifically is mostly a Hispanic/Latino demographic, with a cop force that isn’t necessarily representative of that. I’m certain a lot of racial and prejudicial biases played a lot more into this case than it seems. Thank you for covering this case.
Kayla
2024-11-23 20:30:03 +0000 UTCI know that Gestapo headquarters were around Kreutzberg in Berlin. Can anyone remember the name of the street? UnFuckingBelievable. Plus we'll kill your dog...
Michael Brodie
2024-11-23 19:25:37 +0000 UTCGreat episode that highlights something that I feel always needs more time in our thoughts, wrongly convicted and false confessions. What's the solution to stopping it, who knows? But a start would be to ensure someone signs and waives away they're miranda rights before questioning can continue in a form and fashion that doesn't bias the person or the police. Some countries have solutions to this issue, it often favors the accused and I'm not sure every American is ready for that.
Patrick Gadoury
2024-11-23 19:22:31 +0000 UTCUsing a random dog to search, not Mirandizing him, meds, etc even if you are allowed to lie, there's a bunch of crap police work here. I hope at the very least, this episode and more reporting absolutely puts those officers' names on blast. It's never healing those two men's lives though.
Ally Jakubicka
2024-11-23 18:56:28 +0000 UTCPoor Margot 😔
Annie G
2024-11-23 15:00:47 +0000 UTCI know exactly what you mean I don’t know why but I really struggle when persons in authority behave immorally to this extent
Gail
2024-11-23 14:27:38 +0000 UTCSame ..I had to fast forward bits .. especially when they said the dog had to be euthanised
Gail
2024-11-23 14:25:48 +0000 UTCJust wondering why he didn’t call his sister 1st to ask about fathers whereabouts considering he did suggest this to police to inquire Would have saved a lot of pain and trauma…..
Dawn E
2024-11-23 14:09:13 +0000 UTCIt is a true crime podcast at the end of the day, and this type of specific warning would be akin to a complete spoiler of the episode.
David Rogosaroff
2024-11-23 13:56:18 +0000 UTCWhat an absolutely heartbreaking case. It's scary to think they had all that evidence yet weren't confident enough to take it to court. Really shows how corrupted the system is!
Sammy
2024-11-23 12:33:02 +0000 UTCI had to take a break from this once I realised where it was going - absolutely appalling police work, I can’t put it into words
Gia
2024-11-23 11:08:54 +0000 UTCAll that and he only got $800,000 and zero reforms. Damn Casefile, this one nearly finished me. (Also we will never ever have a just criminal justice system in America as long as we have qualified immunity. Monstrous.)
AR
2024-11-23 11:03:55 +0000 UTCThat's a quite specific thing to get anxious about though isn't it? They're are warnings when the case includes, harm to children or abuse, for example but a warning about false confessions seems a bit too niche and would be a spoiler
Daniel Cook
2024-11-23 10:53:19 +0000 UTCI've said this here before but jesus i wish there was true crime etiquette about warning for false confessions and abhorrent police behavior, because these are the cases that make me so anxious and upset to listen to, and this one just takes the cake, wow. It would be nice to be given some kind of heads up so listeners can mentally prepare themselves. Also if the cops took my dog or cat and injured them and/or nearly had them killed, i would sue every officer in the department and i would not stop until i had razed the place to the ground, my god.
AR
2024-11-23 10:40:13 +0000 UTCAbsolutely shocking, disgusting behaviour by the police. So relieved when I heard Margot was ok though.
Niki Walkey
2024-11-23 10:29:46 +0000 UTCIt probably is for the next 10 weeks as usual.
David Rogosaroff
2024-11-23 08:18:24 +0000 UTCFingers crossed this isn’t the last episode for the year
Nathan Kroussoratis
2024-11-23 08:17:09 +0000 UTC
