State DOJ clears California cop in fatal shooting of unarmed man holding a cell phone

The state Department of Justice has cleared a Fontana police officer of criminal wrongdoing in a 2022 fatal shooting of a Hemet man in which the officer may have mistaken a cell phone for a gun.

The DOJ investigates fatal shootings by police of unarmed civilians. In announcing their findings in a 54-page report on Tuesday, April 22, investigators made recommendations that they believe would improve the Fontana Police Department’s tactics and policies.

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Michael Dorsey, who became police chief in March 2023 — nine months after the shooting — said Wednesday that some of the recommended changes were already being made before the DOJ issued its report. Dorsey also said that the shooting was within department policy.

The city has agreed to pay the parents and two children of 26-year-old Darnell Trevon Travis a total of $2 million to settle a federal wrongful death lawsuit filed in 2023.

The shooting happened on June 21, 2022.

Police received a tip from an informant that Travis was selling an assault rifle that was a so-called ghost gun — a firearm that lacks the legally required serial number that is used to track weapons. Officers arranged through the informant to meet Travis in the parking lot of a McDonald’s at 3870 Sierra Ave.

Officer Alex Millan would be the “bait”; he sat in civilian clothes in an unmarked, white Honda Accord whose description was relayed to Travis through the informant. Travis arrived in a black Mazda being driven by Adolfo Quintana, who parked next to Millan.

Other officers in an unmarked Ford F-150, with its emergency lights and siren on, then rolled up behind the Mazda, believing they had boxed it in. But Quintana threw the Mazda into reverse and rammed the F-150, the report said.

Millan then put on his vest that identified him as a police officer, got out of the car and approached the passenger’s side of the Mazda. Neither man had put up their hands as officers ordered.

The officers had discussed in advance of the takedown that it was likely that anyone selling guns also had their own weapon, the report said.

Millan had that in mind as he saw Travis make what he described as suspicious movements with his hands.

“It generally means they’re going to reach for a weapon, they’re grabbing something that’s illegal either to hide it or to use it,” Millan told investigators. “I was scared for my life and my partner’s life.”

Quintana later told police that Travis had a cell phone in his left hand and moved his right hand from the door to his left side.

“I know what it looks like — it looks like you’re reachin’ for something. I know what it looks like,” the report quoted Quintana as saying. “In a cop’s eyes, it looks like he was reaching for a weapon… and that’s what you wanted to hear.”

Millan then opened the passenger door. Within a second, the car drove forward. An instant later, Millan fired two shots, one hitting Travis in the head.

Millan told investigators that he fired because Travis pointed a gun out the door.

“The barrel was pointed towards the left, towards where the sergeant was,” Millan said, according to the report. “But it was still between his legs at that point… He had a closed grip around the gun. So, what happened was he pulled the firearm from between his legs and pointed it towards me. So, I thought he was going to shoot me and wanted to kill me. … I used lethal force.”

The Mazda continued over a curb and, with Travis mortally wounded, Quintana led police on a 22-mile pursuit that ended when police spun the car out on the 10 Freeway in Redlands. Quintana later told police he was afraid after Millan had shot Travis, that he had previous difficulties with law enforcement and that he was headed back to Hemet.

Travis was pulled from the car unconscious. He was pronounced dead at Loma Linda University Medical Center. An illegal assault rifle was discovered in a bag in the trunk of the Mazda, the report said. Three cell phones, but no handguns, were found in the cabin of the car.

Warning: This video shows violence.

The DOJ report said charges will not be filed because it cannot be proven that Millan’s actions were unreasonable.

“This is true whether Officer Millian actually observed a firearm that was later discarded or Officer Millan mistook another black object (cell phone) for a firearm,” the report added.

Fontana’s policy on the use of deadly force says officers should shoot at moving vehicles only if there are “no other reasonable means available,” such as moving out of the way, to avoid the threat. But Dorsey said he found no policy violations in Millan’s actions.

“We discourage our officers from shooting at moving vehicles, but these are rapidly developing incidents,” Dorsey said. “He believed his life was in jeopardy. He believed he was going to be shot and killed. He felt he had only one course of action.”

The DOJ made three recommendations:

• Develop written guidelines for undercover operations. Dorsey said he and a sergeant, lieutenant and another supervisor must now sign off on plans.

• Give officers a refresher course on the use-of-force policy. Dorsey said officers receive that training about five times per year.

• Develop a written policy for tactics after stopping vehicles connected to a felony. Dorsey said all officers are trained on this and that few departments have written policies.