The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Aug. 18 that 10 current and former officers in Northern California were charged with civil rights violations as part of a major FBI investigation that found evidence they committed various crimes ranging from fraud to covering up the use of excessive force in police reports.
A grand jury in San Francisco unsealed four indictments on Aug. 17 that outlined charges including conspiracy against rights and deprivation of rights under color of law, wire fraud, and conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids, according to a statement released by the DOJ.
Nine police officers and one community service officer are named in the charges, though only two are charged in multiple indictments.
Fraud
One of the indictments, which all collectively focus on members of the Antioch and Pittsburg police departments, alleges six officers engaged in a conspiracy to defraud police departments out of taxpayer dollars by paying other people to take and complete their online university courses so they could earn a criminal justice degree.
Ismail J. Ramsey, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, referred to that indictment as the “college degree benefits fraud indictment,” saying the police departments offered reimbursement for college tuition and pay raises for those who graduate college.
The officers, identified as Morteza Amiri, Eric Allen Rombough, Patrick Berhan, Samantha Peterson, Brauli Rodriguez Jalapa, and Ernesto Juan Mejia-Orozco, pleaded not guilty to various charges, and most were released on condition that they posted property bonds, the Bay Area News Group reported.
If convicted of the charges, the defendants could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in federal prison and face a $250,000 fine, according to the DOJ.
The indictment against two officers was the second of four indictments filed on Aug. 16 against the former and current police officers. That indictment alleges that Daniel Harris and Devon Wenger, both employed by the Antioch Police Department, conspired illegally to distribute anabolic steroids to an unnamed customer.
In the third indictment, Antioch Officer Timothy Manly Williams faces charges related to the obstruction of a federal investigation for allegedly using a personal cellphone in March 2021 to talk to the target of an FBI wiretap investigation and then he made sure the call wasn’t recorded or accurately logged.
Excessive Force
The fourth indictment accuses three Antioch police officers—Mr. Amiri, Mr. Rombough, and Devon Wenger—of using excessive force to “injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate residents of Antioch, California,” and then falsifying reports about the encounters.
According to a 29-page indictment, the defendants allegedly communicated with each other to use excessive force through dog bites by setting a K9 on suspects and creating “unnecessary violence.” It also alleges they deployed a 40mm “less lethal” launcher at suspects who already surrendered, among other methods of excessive force.
Furthermore, prosecutors allege that the three officers deployed uses of force as “punishment” to subjects “beyond any punishment appropriately imposed by the criminal justice system,” and allegedly made repeated reference to or suggestion of violating the civil rights of their victims.
One of the examples included by prosecutors alleges Mr. Amiri pulled over a bicyclist for failing to have lights on after dark and “punched” the individual multiple times before ordering his K9 to bite the bicyclist in the arm, causing injuries. The officer then shared pictures of the victim’s wounds with other Antioch officers who exchanged text messages including: “Yeah buddy good boy pursy,” referring to the dog’s name, Pursy.
In another text message, which was in response to a question from another officer about what cut the dog’s face, Mr. Amiri responded: “That’s a piece of the suspect’s flesh lol.”
In other text messages related to other incidents, the Antioch officers referred to some suspects as “gorillas.” They also laughed and joked about harming people who apparently had surrendered or appeared to be asleep by ordering Mr. Amiri’s K9 on them, or joking about Mr. Rombough shooting at suspects with a 40mm “less-lethal” projectile launcher, the indictment alleges.
Prosecutors say from 2019 to 2021, the dog bit 28 people while Mr. Rombough used the launcher 11 times in 2020 and 2021.
“Today is a dark day in our city’s history, as people trusted to uphold the law, allegedly breached that trust and were arrested by the FBI. As our city absorbs this tragic news, we must come together as one. Today’s actions are the beginning of the end of a long and arduous process,” Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe said in a statement on Thursday.
In a statement released by the Antioch Police Department, Acting Chief of Police Joe Vigil said the arrests of Antioch officers “is disheartening and undermines the incredible work our staff does on a daily basis.”
“Any police officer who breaks public trust must be held accountable, especially because our effectiveness relies heavily on confidence and support from our community,” Mr. Vigil said. “No individual—including a police officer—is above the law.”
Robert Tripp, an FBI special agent, said the corruption probe is currently one of the highest priorities of the agency’s field office in San Francisco.
“Law enforcement officers bear a tremendous responsibility to police our communities lawfully in keeping with the Constitution, and we must always be true to that guiding principle. I want to extend my sincere appreciation to the FBI agents, analysts, and law enforcement partners who worked tirelessly on this case and whose efforts culminated in the operations today,” Mr. Tripp said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.