by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

Friends and family of the 30-year-old Rancho Cucamonga man who died November 28 following a traffic stop by Claremont police were on hand at Tuesday’s City Council meeting to demand transparency as the investigation into the incident unfolds.

Diego Rios’ mother, Zarela Boza, father, Victor Rios, and brother, Victor Rios Jr. spoke during public comment.

“We want transparency. My mother and father are completely crushed with the loss of their youngest son,” Victor Rios Jr. said. “And I urge the City Council to identify these individuals. When? What date can we expect the names to be released? When do we expect an explanation as to what happened? We don’t understand what happened … We demand transparency. We want to know.”

The incident occurred about 3:18 p.m. November 28 after police responded to reports of a man acting erratically and conducted a traffic stop near Andrew Drive and Claremont Boulevard.

“Based on the subject’s behavior, officers believed he was operating a motor vehicle while under the influence,” according to a November 29 statement from Claremont police. “The officers asked the subject to step out of the vehicle, at which point a use-of-force incident occurred.”

“Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Lt. German Ochoa said the preliminary investigation found the use of force was a controlled takedown after Rios resisted officers trying to handcuff him,” the Daily Bulletin’s Anissa Rivera reported.

Claremont police said Rios became unresponsive during the incident, after which CPD and LA County Fire Department paramedics began lifesaving measures. Rios was then transported to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Council member Corey Calaycay receives the gavel from new Mayor Jennifer Stark for completing his mayoral term at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

On Tuesday, friends, family, civil rights advocates, freelance journalists, and community members pleaded with the City Council to release more information. Some cited California Senate Bill 1421, which was signed into law in 2018 and grants “certain peace officer or custodial officer personnel records and records relating to specified incidents, complaints, and investigations involving peace officers and custodial officers to be made available for public inspection pursuant to the California Public Records Act.”

City Attorney Alisha Patterson responded:

“The laws that you referenced that require transparency of incidents do give quite a bit of time: 45 days in one case, 60 days in another case until the [district attorney] makes a decision on charging in another case,” Patterson said. “The rationale behind that is to protect the integrity of the investigation and not to release information that could compromise the investigation.”

The LA County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau is investigating, with assistance from The LA County District Attorney’s Justice System Integrity Division.

“Claremont is fully cooperating,” Patterson said. “They’re doing everything they can to make sure that these investigations are completed as quickly as possible so that once information is able to be released, they’re able to get answers.”

Claremont police and the city have refused to release the identities of CPD officers involved or divulge whether or not they are on leave during the investigation.

Last week, the LA County Medical Examiner’s office noted Rios’ cause of death as “deferred.”

“Deferred means that after an autopsy, a cause of death has not been determined and the medical examiner is requesting more investigation into the death, including additional studies,” a medical examiner’s office spokesperson wrote in an email. “Once the tests/studies come back, the doctor evaluates the case again and makes the cause of death determination. Because of the ongoing death investigation, the department cannot disclose what is being conducted by our office or provide a timeframe of when the cases will be closed.”

Rios’s body was recently released to his family. Funeral arrangements are pending.

New mayor, vice mayor named

The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to name Jennifer Stark mayor and Ed Reece vice mayor for the coming year.

As his final act as mayor, Calaycay nominated Stark and Stark then nominated Reece.

“It is our privilege and our responsibility to listen to everyone, to see beyond the surface of issues and to create effective local responses,” Mayor Stark said. “We need to keep our streets clean, our sidewalks safe and accessible, our parks green, our wildlands preserved, our cultural heritage celebrated, and our environment protected. I believe the values and ideas of our general plan calls for us to honor and celebrate the intentional planning that created our city, but also to embrace and plan for the future.”

Calaycay delivered a recap of his year as mayor. Highlights included breaking ground on Claremont Police Department’s female locker room project; seeing through the multi-unit townhome project by City Ventures in south Claremont; and restarting the sister city relationship with Guanajuato, Mexico.

Although he did not reestablish the Claremont Homeless Advocacy Program, or CHAP, as he had hoped, Calaycay said progress had been made.

“They finally have a board together,” Calaycay said of CHAP. He then addressed recent allegations regarding his involvement with the program. “Sadly, as we got to the end of that process, some letters came in to city hall … accusations came out that Council member Reece and I had a conflict of interest, that we were choosing the board and involving ourselves too much. So now that the board is there, Council member Reece and I will be pulling back and I have full faith and confidence we have folks that have board experience that will move this organization onward.”

Patterson said the city found no conflict of interest between with Reece and Calaycay’s CHAP affiliation, and said they were operating “above board.”

The next Claremont City Council meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 13, 2026, at council chambers, 225 W. Second St., Claremont.