When Reinaldo Jesus Lefonts, 68, was stabbed by a homeless man at a city-owned EV charging station outside a Southern California library the morning of Saturday, Sept. 13, emergency services responded.
But “what followed made a tragic situation catastrophic,” the attorneys hired by Lefonts’ family, Curd, Galindo & Smith, LLP, said in a March 6 news release.
The Downey Fire Department ambulance that responded to transport Lefonts to a hospital was stolen by a different homeless man, who is accused of leading police on a chase that ended in a crash more than 10 miles away, the attorneys said.
“In that moment, every second mattered,” the attorneys wrote in a government tort claim filed against the city of Downey.
Lefonts did not make it to the hospital; instead, he died on scene, according to the lawyers.
Now, Lefonts’ family has filed a claim against the city of Downey, seeking $40 million in damages. The claim asserts several wrongdoings by the city, including wrongful death and negligence.
The city of Downey did not immediately respond to a request for comment on March 10.
“Reinaldo was not just a name in a police report,” Alexis Galindo, lead attorney for the family, said in a written statement. “He was the person who anchored this family — a husband, a father, a man who trusted that his city would keep him safe.”
What Downey police say happened
Police officers responded to a report of a stabbing in front of Downey Library shortly after 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 13, according to a Downey Police Department news release.
When officers arrived, they found Lefonts on the ground with a stab wound, police said.
As rescuers were tending to Lefonts, a man unrelated to the stabbing stole “a Downey Fire Department ambulance that was parked at the homicide scene,” according to police.
Officers chased after the ambulance, police said. The pursuit ended in Alhambra when the driver crashed the ambulance into a parked car. A 52-year-old Los Angeles man was also booked into jail, police said.
Lefonts died on scene as Downey police and fire department rescuers provided medical aid, according to police.
Witnesses told officers where the suspect fled, and officers found him at Downey High School, police said. A 23-year-old man was booked into jail.
“Detectives from the Downey Police Department are actively investigating both incidents and following all available leads,” police said.
What lawyers say happened
Lefonts drove to Downey Civic Center to charge his car at the EV charging station the morning of Sept. 13 — “a routine errand in a public space he trusted,” the attorneys said in a news release.
“While his vehicle was charging, he was violently attacked and stabbed by Giovanni Navarro, a man with 28 prior criminal convictions, including for brandishing a weapon, criminal threats, and attempted burglary,” the lawyers said.
The stabbing happened outside Downey Public Library, about 200 feet from a 24-hour police station, according to the attorneys.
Less than 24 hours earlier, Navarro had been arrested and released after he was accused of trespassing at the same location, the lawyers said.
“The Downey Fire Department rescue vehicle dispatched to save Reinaldo’s life was not equipped with a Tremco device as required under applicable EMS equipment standards,” the lawyers said.
As a result, the attorneys said, the “unequipped and unsecured rescue vehicle” was stolen by a second man, Nicholas DeMarco.
“The City’s paramedics and rescue vehicle were Reinaldo’s only realistic chance of survival,” the claim says.
Without an ambulance to transport Lefonts, he “did not receive the timely medical treatment he desperately needed,” the claim says.
“The City’s failures in emergency response—both in equipment and in care—were a cause of his death,” the claim says. “For his family, this is particularly devastating: they know that Reinaldo lay there, gravely injured, within reach of help that should have been available, but was not.”
City was aware of unsafe area
According to the family’s claim, “The tragic events of September 13, 2025, were not random or unforeseeable.”
The city of Downey knew “the Civic Center and the Downey Library area had become a focal point of criminal activity, much of it involving homeless individuals loitering in and around the parking lot,” the claim says.
Between January 2022 and December 2025, there were 675 calls for service at the Downey Library and Civic Center, the attorneys said. Those crimes ranged from assaults to robberies.
“In 2015, Downey Police Officer Ricardo Galvez was fatally shot while sitting in his personal vehicle in the very same Civic Center parking lot,” the attorneys said.
Three years later, the city penned a 63-page “plan acknowledging the public safety impact of homelessness,” and, weeks before Lefonts’ death, the city discussed a report on homeless-related public safety concerns at its city council meeting, according to the lawyers.
The city contracted with a security firm in 2024 to patrol city parking lots and parks, but the day of Lefonts’ death, “no adequate security was present at the Civic Center,” the lawyers said.
“Despite all of this, the City posted signs promising ‘24 Hour Surveillance,’ invited the public to pay for and use its EV charging stations, and failed to ensure the safety of the people it was actively encouraging to be there,” the lawyers said.
Lefonts’ death was “both foreseeable and directly linked to the City’s policies, practices, and failures,” the claim says.
“The City of Downey knew this parking lot was dangerous. They knew the man who killed Reinaldo had just been arrested there the day before,” Galindo said in a statement. “They knew their rescue vehicle wasn’t properly equipped. And still, they did nothing. Reinaldo died within reach of help that should have been there. His family deserves answers, accountability, and justice.”
What family is seeking
Lefonts is survived by his wife and two sons, who are is seeking $40 million in damages from the city:
Should the city fail to act on the family’s claim, the lawyers said they will file a civil lawsuit.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Man hurt in stabbing died after ambulance was stolen in California
Reporting by Daniella Segura, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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