Recently retired Reinaldo Jesus Lefonts was charging his EV in the Downey library parking lot when he suffered a stroke that severed both the carotid and jugular arteries. He was alive when the ambulance arrived in the parking lot – but that ambulance was stolen.
The ambulance driver, according to the police, led the police on a chase that ended up colliding with a car a few kilometers away.
“In that moment, every second counted,” the Lefonts family said in a legal claim against the city. “The City’s paramedics and an ambulance were Reinaldo’s only realistic chance of survival.
Lefonts died at the scene of the stabbing, authorities said.
Now his family wants $40 million from the city. Their lawyers cited failures in public safety and emergency response. They said a “surveillance” sign on the building led Lefonts to believe he was safe, and that the ambulance was missing the required locking device.
The 68-year-old man had just retired from his job as a lab technician at UCI Medical Center when he was attacked the morning of Sept. 13, 2025, in the parking lot of the Downey Civic Center near the library at 11121 Brookshire Ave., according to the complaint, filed with the Downey city clerk on Friday. Suspect Giovanni Navarro, 23, was arrested for trespassing in the same area less than 24 hours earlier.
Navarro had 28 prior convictions, including brandishing a weapon, attempted burglary and criminal threats, attorneys said.
The Los Angeles County medical examiner determined that Lefonts suffered at least four blunt force injuries to the head, neck and right arm. The wound of death was a stab wound to the neck, and the manner of death is said to be homicide, according to the autopsy report.
The Downey Fire Department rescue vehicle that responded did not have a Tremco anti-theft device required under state law and applicable Fire Department standards, the family’s attorneys argue. While paramedics were treating Lefonts, Nicholas DeMarco, 52, allegedly entered the ambulance and left. The police followed.
In the parking lot, Lefonts was pronounced dead at 9:55 a.m., the autopsy report said.
The city logged about 675 calls to work at the Civic Center and library between January 2022 and December 2025, including assaults, robberies, sex crimes, arson and drug violations, according to the lawsuit.
“While both the violent assault and the theft are criminal acts, they were entirely foreseeable due to the known circumstances surrounding the Civic Center and the repeated criminal activity in the area,” the lawsuit said. “The City’s failure to properly equip and protect its ambulance prevented the provision of emergency care to Reinaldo. As a result, Reinaldo did not receive treatment when he needed it most.”
A few weeks before Lefonts was killed, the Downey City Council received a report for an Aug. 26, 2025, meeting about public safety issues related to the homelessness, attorneys said.
The family’s attorneys also said signs posted on the building, which read “Under 24 Hour Location,” led Lefonts to believe he was in a secure location when he paid the city to use the EV charger, the lawsuit said.
“The city of Downey knew this parking lot was dangerous,” lead attorney Alexis Galindo said in a statement. “They know that the man who killed Reinaldo was just arrested there the day before yesterday. They know that their rescue vehicle was not well equipped. However, they did nothing. Reinaldo died without getting the help that should have been there. His family deserves answers, accountability and justice.”
The suit seeks $35 million in general damages and $5 million in special economic damages. Under California law, the city has one year to respond by accepting, rejecting or settling. The refusal will allow the family to file the case in court as a legal case.
