Father of 2 dies from punch after he tried to stop a street brawl
When a fight erupted in downtown Riverside recently, Adam Valles “tried to play peacemaker” and got involved, police said.
Instead, the 28-year-old Bloomington resident soon found himself fighting for his life in a hospital, according to Officer Ryan Railsback, spokesman for Riverside Police Department.
Valles was punched in the head during the Aug. 12 scuffle and fell to “the ground hard,” Railsback said. The father of two children — 4 and 8 years old — suffered head and brain injuries. Days later, he died in an area hospital.
In a heartbreaking Facebook post, his wife, Johana Cordova Valles, described the painful ordeal:
“Adam is not making it through the night,” she wrote Thursday. “He’s gone. Adam is gone.”
In an effort to find Valles’ attackers, the Riverside Police Department released photographs on Monday of two men who they said were involved in the melee.
The brawl, which was captured on surveillance camera and cellphone video, broke out just after 2 a.m. inside an establishment in downtown Riverside’s entertainment district. As people left the building, the scuffle spilled onto the sidewalk, Railsback said.
Valles’ wife told the Los Angeles Times that she, her husband, his two sisters and their boyfriends had gone out for the night when the chaos broke out.
She said she doesn’t know the suspects.
Investigators believe several people witnessed the fracas and recorded it on their cellphones.
It is unclear what led up to the fight.
“I want people to know my husband was just trying to help,” Johana Valles told The Times. “He always tries to help. He never considers the possibility of him getting hurt, he just jumps into action. He always wants to help people.”
At a vigil held in downtown Riverside last week, his family pleaded to the public for help in the police investigation.
Ashley Valles said her big brother was the family’s rock and protector.
“Adam always put so much value into family,” she told those who attended the vigil. “There’s so much more he should be here for.”
A GoFundMe account was created to help the family pay for funeral expenses.
Twitter: VeronicaRochaLA
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