In a city awash with domestic violence incidents, as we report in our Daily Santa Ana Crime Reports, an incident on October 5, 2013, stands out.
Anthony Angel Gomez, who was 31 years old, died after he was badly injured during an incident involving his wife, Paulina Lugo Gomez. They were separated at the time. On the day in question they were having an argument, at 10th and Lowell Street, when Paulina took off in a vehicle and Anthony reportedy tried to jump onto it. He fell and ended up with severe head trauma.
Anthony’s family is looking for answers. They believe that Paulina was behind the wheel and their two minor children were present at the time. But no other witnesses have stepped up.
The Santa Ana Police Department was called that day at 3:29 pm and at 5:30 Anthony was transported to Western Medical Center where he later died on Oct. 12, 2013.
Anthony’s family, which resides in Riverside, was not notified of the incident until two days later on the night of Oct. 7. When they arrived at Western Medical Center, in Santa Ana, they were informed that Anthony was a John Doe and no one had came to visit him since the incident.
Anthony’s parents, sisters and family members stayed at the hospital 24/7, hoping and praying that Anthony would awake from his coma. They went to the SAPD onOct. 9, 2013, to seek answers on why no one was arrested after the incident. Domestic violence detectives informed them that the case still had not been assigned to a specific detective and that the report still had not been typed up. They also said that sometimes when police are called out to domestic violence calls they do not treat the case seriously and sometimes produce lackluster reports, which is when the detectives step up.
On oct. 11, 2013, Anthony’s family was notified that his recovery had taken a turn for the worse. The family then notified the Domestic Violence detectives at the SAPD and they were advised the case had just been opened and that Paulina needed to be questioned but since Anthony was likely to pass away, the detective said that she would need to transfer the case to Homicide.
On Oct. 14, the family spoke to a Homicide detective and they were informed that Paulina still had not been questioned but she had obtained a lawyer and would be coming in to give a statement.
On Oct. 16 they were informed that due to very limited evidence the District Attorney will not be pursuing murder charges as per Detective Leo Ramirez. The family was informed on Oct. 17 that the case would be transferred over to the traffic division.
The family called the traffic division on Monday, Nov. 4, 2013, to seek answers on why there had been no arrest. The family feels that someone needs to be charges with foul play, manslaughter, or driving without a license. They contend that something is wrong with the story and with the Santa Ana P.D.
Anthony’s sister wonders if the story was turned around and Anthony was driving, would he have been detained immediatly? And why did it take nine days to get a statement from the prime suspect? And why was Paulina drving when she did not have a drivers license?
His sister noted that past records show that Paulina and Anthony have been arguing for many years, and that back in 2012 he went to the Family Court and got a temporary restraining order against Paulina. She says that they have pictures of scratches she left him. And she says that Anthony tried a number of times to move on with his life and to be happy but every time he tried to move on Paulina would hold his kids back. This was heartbreaking for him as he purportedly “lived for those kids.”
Was this a case of domestic violence against a man or did Paulina flee out of concern for her own well-being? Was it an accident or was hit premeditated? There are a lot of questions but no answers. If you saw something that day, Anthony’s family encourages you to remember that anonymous tips may be submitted to Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855-TIP-OCC (855-847-6227) or at www.occrimestoppers.org.
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I am also wondering why there was no investigation into this supposed accident. I agree with the family that there is something wrong with the story and with the SAPD.
If it was the other way around Anthony would have been in jail for the rest of his life.
Just because you hang on to a moving vehicle or try to stay on its pathway...doesn't make the driver a killer.........People need to realize that is not assault with a deadly weapon (in this case the car) if you made the dumb decision not to let go of the car or to stay in front of it as it drives away. Furthermore, if the driver had stopped and then she got assaulted or kill..(ever think about that????
As I wrote in my post, we don't know what happened. This incident happened in the afternoon - in broad daylight. Surely someone must have seen something?
Guessing what happened is pure conjecture. We need some witnesses to step up!
Guadalupe - May I ask where would you get the thought of him holding on to the vehicle? Just curious? And yes, i do believe that if it was your decision to run out in the street to get hit then fault is on you, but that is not how the justice system always works.
It was the rear of the car
no one was there so u cant speak.
pd did their investigation.
let it go its closed now.
The point of the article was that a) no one has stepped up as a witness, and b) the police appear to have bungled the report process. So why exactly should this be let go?
Your such a lair Alex, Paulina, Lexi, Alejandra you what you did was wrong !!!!!
Happy birthday lair cheater horrible mother and evil person
Rumor has it that her children were in the car, that Anthony was run over 3 times and that the only person the wife told was a girlfriend.
Disgusting...
Anonymous huh....
The REAL judgement day will come for her one day. If our justice system cant pull their heads out of their asses she will have to answer to God eventually. And she will pay for what shes done.
You can run but YOU CAN'T HIDE! The fact that you still can sit there and attack what we all know is the TRUTH, proves to everyone your disgusting character and your evil intentions. Alex, Paulina, "Anonymous", conniving, Illegal, meth addict, murderer, we understand you were BORN LIE as an illegal immigrant and trust me, no hard feelings with regards to immigrant’s but my point across is her upbringing, she was raised to lie and survive in this country as a liar, not to mention cheating on her married husband. Even her own daughter calls her a liar. So please understand that her Evil intensions proves her character. If it was an accident, she would have notified the family a lot sooner that waiting two days to FB someone. I promise you this... Evil NEVER wins!! This is only the beginning of our rights to seek justice, in which, your anonymous bs won't fly anymore... technology does wonders and it’s only a matter of time until things catch up you! BTW- You should be ashamed of yourself, what type of person notifies Anthony's family 2 days AFTER putting him in the hospital as a JOHN DOE?? We all have to live with our mistakes but looks like 2 days was enough to buy you some time and get your story straight. FYI - He was sooooo happy without you and in fact, had you responded to his filed divorce papers on July 7, 2013, (you were served but u didn’t respond).... would have been enough justice for him to move on in life... but noooooooo we sit here with pain… and your kids now have no father. ***** R.I.P. ANTHONY GOMEZ... we will NEVER GIVE UP on your smile... you did not deserve to die that day but your love will live in our hearts.
ATTENTION: TO WHOM THIS MAY CONCERN, PLEASE FORWARD THIS STORY TO ANYONE WHO IS A VICTIM OF VIOLENCE AND SPREAD THE WORD. WOMEN ARE JUST AS BAD AND JUSTICE NEEDS TO WAKE THE F* UP.... RECONGNIZE!
Wow well said TO "Justice" In loving Memory of Anthony Gomez R.I.P. ANTHONY GOMEZ… we will NEVER GIVE UP!!!! FROM Holguin FAM...