U.S. District Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and FBI Special Agent Robert K. Tripp joined forces today at San Francisco’s Phillip Burton Federal Building, to officially reveal a grand jury indictment of police officers from Antioch and Pittsburg — who were arrested this morning by the FBI.
After being informed of today’s arrests, Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe released a statement decrying the conduct of the officers involved, while also pledging to reform the troubled Antioch Police Department.
On the state level, Attorney General Rob Bonta also launched an investigation of the Antioch Police Department in May, after the FBI and Contra Costa District Attorney unearthed a trove of racist police text messages during a misconduct probe.
The details outlined by today’s quartet of federal indictments are sordid.
They include text-message transcripts and other documented injustices allegedly committed by the indicted Antioch officers: Morteza Amiri, Eric Allen Rombough, Devon Christopher Wenger, and several others.
The transcripts reveal racial obscenities spouted about their subjects, with officers exchanging pictures of troubling wounds — results of use-of-force by the indicted officers upon members of the general public.
Among the collective charges across the four indictments are as follows: Wire fraud, conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids, destruction and alteration of records pertaining to federal investigations, and obstruction of justice.
The indictments also mention the use of force by police dogs: In one text message exchange, Amiri complimented Rombough on a “throat bite” suffered by one of the subjects, to which Rombough replied: “One less gorilla pro-curating. [sic]” This appears to be an anti-Black racist insult, and a misspelling of the word “procreating.”
Amiri’s police dog, identified as Purcy, was deployed on at least 28 victims, according to the case filings. The indictment mentions that Amiri was reported to have received “over hundreds of hours of [police dog] basic and maintenance training courses between 2018 and 2021.”
Rombough served as an operator of a less-lethal projectile launcher — and in less than a year, he deployed it to shoot “at least eleven subjects in and around Antioch.”
Out of four indictments outlined at the announcement today, one indicted several police officers from the Pittsburg Police Department for fraudulently obtaining degrees at an unidentified university. Part of the so-called “scheme to defraud” included officers employing others to complete their courses, and compensating those individuals via Venmo on multiple occasions.
Amiri is included in this indictment, as well as another APD officer, Samantha Genoveva Peterson. Indicted officers from Pittsburg include Amanda Carmella Theodosy, Ernesto Mejia, and Brauli Rodriguez.
Ramsey presented a chart at the announcement that outlined the defendants, the crimes alleged, and the maximum statutory sentencing.
Before introducing Tripp to the podium, Ramsey stated solemnly that “police officers take an oath, a solemn promise to uphold and defend the constitution, as well as state laws.”
Gesturing to his chart, he added, “the indictments unsealed today paint a picture of officers who have violated that oath. The damage that happens to the public trust can not easily be calculated.”
Tripp then took to the podium, informing the room that all officers listed in the indictment have been taken into custody as of this morning.
“None of those arrested were actively engaged in law enforcement, although three were current public employees placed on administrative leave,” Tripp said. He also added that several forces were deployed across and beyond state lines: Besides the Bay Area, suspects were arrested in Hawaii, Southern California, and Texas.
“This case has been one of the San Francisco field office’s highest priorities for many months,” Tripp said. “Scheduling for court cases is being worked out.”
When asked about details of the investigation by the press, Ramsey and Tripp were tight-lipped, often repeating that they could not answer the question at hand as it pertained to a very much ongoing investigation.
Waiting to hear from the POA bots to chime in decrying this unwarranted vicious premeditated attack on the poor underfunded police. Is Chess Boudin now working for the FBI? The criminals must be partying now, making us all feel unsafe. Oh, the same thing happened, worse about a decade ago in SF, only those guys, in the Mission, were also stealing drugs from homeless and SRO residents and then selling them in open drug markets. Went on for years. Fortunately, it was discovered, the perpetrators lost their jobs (but did they lose their pensions? did they go to Antioch to get hired?) and today there is no racism in the SFPD. Won’t be tolerated, right?
amen – I’ll bite: when/where did the checks/balances on SF public servants go? our cops spend more time with their thumbs up their asses than any east-bay city I’ve ever lived in. And I moved to the richmond district from pleasanton.
My fellow taxpayers on 7th ave: get in your tesla and drive right into the bay
lol the fbi has to hire more people ’cause of how contra-costa cops roll
all the “b-roll” is of my daughter’s middle-school
who the eff was these dudes sgt ?
If antioch can’t fire the leadership/association who enriched these turds then we are _truly_ screwed here in SF worse than you thought
@ my former Deer Valley HS families — you deserve so much better than this – y’all look past creed every day as a matter of course and these worms were given your trust.