ANTIOCH — Two scandals involving alleged crimes and racism amongst Antioch law enforcement officials have up to now cost 13 of them their jobs, in line with recently released emails sent by department heads to city officials.
Among the 13 job losses are seven firings related to the texting scandal, three firings of officers who allegedly committed crimes and three other resignations of officers who knew harsh disciplinary motion was imminent, city documents say. In addition, six officers were suspended without pay and one received a written reprimand. One officer was cleared of any wrongdoing.
But the town tried to fireplace or discipline several other officers. They eventually won mediation and had their decisions overturned or reduced, in line with several officials with direct knowledge. A lawyer representing a lot of the officers charged accused the town of “not following its own written disciplinary policy” and predicted that a number of the officers would return with back pay.
Multiple law enforcement sources identified six of the officers who received notices of intent to terminate over the texting scandal, including Sergeant Josh Evans, a cop who calls himself “racist” and used the N-word in text messages to fellow officers, and Officer John Ramirez, who texted a proposal of a “prime rib dinner” to any officer who fired a non-lethal bullet at the town's black mayor, Lamar Thorpe-Hernandez. The other 4 were identified as Kelly Inabnett, Brayton Milner, Aaron Hughes and Brock Marcotte. The sources couldn’t discover the seventh officer.
“We are rebuilding the department,” Thorpe-Hernandez said Friday. “We are excited to be able to hire a more diverse group of people, some from the local community, who do not represent the past – and that is racism and corruption.”
The fired officers have the correct to appeal and have sought legal advice, multiple sources said. A lawyer for the Antioch police union said the town tried to fireplace several more officers or impose stricter discipline on them, however the officers were dissuaded after arbitrators ruled that they had not followed proper procedures.
Six other officers recently resigned from the Antioch Police Department over alleged criminal offenses: Morteza Amiri, Devon Wenger, Eric Rombough, Ben Padilla, Calvin Prieto and Andrea Rodriguez. Of them, all except Padilla were also implicated within the texting scandal. Officials wouldn’t say which of those officers were fired and which resigned, but a city councilwoman confirmed last 12 months that Wenger, Amiri and Rombough – all charged with civil rights violations and violence – received letters of the police department's intent to fireplace them.
Michael Rains, an attorney representing a lot of the officers, said in a text message that the town had refused to follow its own written policy to recommend and implement disciplinary motion and had disciplined officers who had been exonerated by outside investigators. He accused the town and the Contra Costa district attorney of “colluding” to permit the “agenda-driven” mayor to focus on officers.
“I am convinced that the arbitrators selected to hear appeals of terminated officers (a process the city had no control over) will be outraged by the process used by the city and will return the officers to their jobs and order the city to pay substantial back pay,” Rains said.
Two other people had previously lost their jobs amid the criminal investigation: Daniel Harris, a former police officer charged with steroid trafficking who resigned in 2022, and Samantha Peterson, a former social employee who was sentenced to probation for her role in a plot to illegally obtain college pay raises by cheating on college tests.
It's been greater than two years since FBI agents raided the homes of several law enforcement officials and police headquarters in East Contra Costa, resulting in criminal charges against 14 officers and an administrative investigation into text messages containing racist, homophobic, sexist and flippant remarks about police violence. There were also quite a few conversations through which the officers discussed obtaining steroids, in line with recently filed court documents.
Some of the officers have pleaded guilty or not guilty to federal or state charges. Such is the case for Ernesto Mejia-Orozco, a former Pittsburgh police officer charged in the school graduation scandal. Others look like sticking to their guns. Attorneys for Wenger and Amiri recently filed motions to quash search warrants for his or her phones, arguing that federal authorities relied on false testimony or wrote overly broad affidavits to justify illegal searches. Federal prosecutors are opposing the motions, and a judge has not yet made a choice.
Several lawsuits have been filed in consequence of the scandals, and Contra Costa County has devoted tens of millions of dollars to identifying criminal cases which will have been influenced by dishonest or racist law enforcement officials. Defense attorneys, particularly public defenders, have also filed petitions under the state's Racial Justice Act to dismiss cases against people charged in consequence of Antioch police investigations. Additionally, several federal lawsuits have been filed alleging that Antioch law enforcement officials either assaulted or treated the plaintiffs unfairly.
The latest court case involving police was excellent news for a former Antioch police officer. Matthew Nutt, who was fired in 2022 for punching a handcuffed man, was acquitted of an assault charge on Thursday.
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