San Francisco Police Officer Sues Antioch Over Taser Incident

When we last checked in on our old friend and former Davis Police Chief Jim Hyde, his new department and city were facing a class action lawsuit over alleged racial profiling in Section 8 housing projects in Antioch.

Now the Antioch Police Department is back in the news, in one of those not-so-good ways as a San Francisco police inspector has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Antioch claiming that an Antioch police officer tased her during a confrontation in her home where she was attempting to evict a tenant.

According to SFPD Inspector Marvetia Lynn Richardson, a 41 year-old African-American who has served the SFPD for 14 years, “Antioch officers broke down her door last year, stunned her with a Taser and then took her to jail when she demanded to write “Tasered” on a citation for resisting arrest.”

Apparently this incident is an outgrowth of efforts by Antioch police officers to enter homes without warrants to “harass and drive African American tenants out of federally subsidized housing.”

According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, the suit filed in US District Court in San Francisco names among others the City of Antioch, Police Chief James Hyde, a police sargent, and three officers.

The city of course, denies any wrongdoing claiming that officers acted properly in investigating reports of violence against residents at the home.

“Richardson refused to sign a citation for resisting arrest and tried to write “Tasered” on it. An officer ripped the citation out of her hand and she was taken to jail, the suit said.

Judge Charles Treat of Contra Costa County Superior Court dismissed the resisting-arrest charge in June, saying the police entry into Richardson’s house was illegal.”

Dan Noyes from KGO in San Francisco, also is covering this story. Some may recall the stories he did on the Buzayan case in Davis.

Noyes has a seven-minute report that aired on Monday night.

You can watch the video of the news broadcast and read the transcript of the report.

There are a number of angles to this story. One of the things that Dan Noyes points out in his “iteam” blog is that the police report does not seem to match the audio of what happened during the incident.

“Antioch Police Officer Santiago Martinez was one of four officers who responded to the scene; he’s also the one who tased Richardson. There are some serious discrepancies in the report Martinez filed, compared to what’s on the audio recording.”

Moreover:

“One defense lawyer writes the audio recording provides “a most disturbing account of officer fabricating and bolstering the facts of the incident to rise to a level of leading the witness, putting words into her mouth, and persuasion in effectuating the statements of the victims.”

This entire report seems uncannily familiar. At one point, Noyes reports that Chief Hyde refused to speak with him about this issue. One might recall when Noyes had an interview in Davis set up with Chief Hyde on the Buzayan case, he abruptly ended the interview and then according to emails had some rather choice words to say about Dan Noyes.

Still recent reports out of Antioch indicate that the City Council is pleased with Jim Hyde, they are pleased and credit him that crime is down, but the entire situation and escalation seems eerily familiar to the pattern that occurred in Davis. If anything it is escalated above anything that we saw in Davis. One thing that is clear, there are a number of staunch defenders of the chief in Antioch as there was in Davis and public opinion on him seems highly polarized.

—David M. Greenwald reporting

Author

  • David Greenwald

    Greenwald is the founder, editor, and executive director of the Davis Vanguard. He founded the Vanguard in 2006. David Greenwald moved to Davis in 1996 to attend Graduate School at UC Davis in Political Science. He lives in South Davis with his wife Cecilia Escamilla Greenwald and three children.

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Civil Rights

108 comments

  1. This is no surprise at all. Hyde fostered an atmosphere of racism and “jack boot” style of policing here. The city council there likes it. Only the citizens suffer there as they did here. Good riddance to bad cops.

  2. This is no surprise at all. Hyde fostered an atmosphere of racism and “jack boot” style of policing here. The city council there likes it. Only the citizens suffer there as they did here. Good riddance to bad cops.

  3. This is no surprise at all. Hyde fostered an atmosphere of racism and “jack boot” style of policing here. The city council there likes it. Only the citizens suffer there as they did here. Good riddance to bad cops.

  4. This is no surprise at all. Hyde fostered an atmosphere of racism and “jack boot” style of policing here. The city council there likes it. Only the citizens suffer there as they did here. Good riddance to bad cops.

  5. Thank goodness our Police Department survived the meltdown over the past years, and we now have a great Chief and officers.

    I only wish that Officer Neeves downtown (our bike cop) had some help. We need two bike cops, for three shifts. The downtown is very very vulnerable from lack of enough officers on the streets.

    I have lived and worked 24/7 in the core of the downtown since 1995, and I see most everything that goes on. We really, really need more officers on the street.

  6. Thank goodness our Police Department survived the meltdown over the past years, and we now have a great Chief and officers.

    I only wish that Officer Neeves downtown (our bike cop) had some help. We need two bike cops, for three shifts. The downtown is very very vulnerable from lack of enough officers on the streets.

    I have lived and worked 24/7 in the core of the downtown since 1995, and I see most everything that goes on. We really, really need more officers on the street.

  7. Thank goodness our Police Department survived the meltdown over the past years, and we now have a great Chief and officers.

    I only wish that Officer Neeves downtown (our bike cop) had some help. We need two bike cops, for three shifts. The downtown is very very vulnerable from lack of enough officers on the streets.

    I have lived and worked 24/7 in the core of the downtown since 1995, and I see most everything that goes on. We really, really need more officers on the street.

  8. Thank goodness our Police Department survived the meltdown over the past years, and we now have a great Chief and officers.

    I only wish that Officer Neeves downtown (our bike cop) had some help. We need two bike cops, for three shifts. The downtown is very very vulnerable from lack of enough officers on the streets.

    I have lived and worked 24/7 in the core of the downtown since 1995, and I see most everything that goes on. We really, really need more officers on the street.

  9. It is remarkable what an atmospheric change has taken place in Davis with the replacement of Hyde by Chief Black. Cooperation and calm reason have replaced anger and tension with regard to DPD/Davis citizens relations. It is almost palpable.

  10. It is remarkable what an atmospheric change has taken place in Davis with the replacement of Hyde by Chief Black. Cooperation and calm reason have replaced anger and tension with regard to DPD/Davis citizens relations. It is almost palpable.

  11. It is remarkable what an atmospheric change has taken place in Davis with the replacement of Hyde by Chief Black. Cooperation and calm reason have replaced anger and tension with regard to DPD/Davis citizens relations. It is almost palpable.

  12. It is remarkable what an atmospheric change has taken place in Davis with the replacement of Hyde by Chief Black. Cooperation and calm reason have replaced anger and tension with regard to DPD/Davis citizens relations. It is almost palpable.

  13. This story was reported in a Hong Kong newspaper–

    (本報訊)三藩市警方一名女警對東灣安迪奧(Antioch)市政府提出聯邦民事訴訟,控訴該市一名警官在她試圖逐出家中房客的一場爭吵中,用Taser電擊槍電擊她。    41歲非裔女警Marvetia Lynn Richardson是一名有14年資歷的三藩市警員,目前正在休無薪假。她表示去年安迪奧警方破門而入,用電擊槍電她,她拒絕在拒捕的告票上簽名,並試圖在告票上寫下遭電擊字樣。一名警員遂將告票撕掉並將她帶入獄。    Richardson表示,安迪奧警方越來越常在沒有搜查令之下進入民居騷擾居民,從聯邦補助房屋中趕走非裔租客,她所遭遇的正是該市警方這種做法的後果。Richardson擁有自家房屋,且未受聯邦住屋援助。     官司已入稟三藩市聯邦法院,點名控告安迪奧市政府、警察局長James Hyde、警佐Thomas Fuhrmann、警員Santiago Martinez Jr.、Jason Vanderpool和Jason Joannides,要求賠償對她造成的精神受損、薪資損失及醫療費用。    安迪奧市府否認過失,並表示警察在調查該戶居民可能受到暴力威脅的通報時執法得當。    事件發生在2007年6月7日午夜,地點是Mokelumne Drive的Richardson家中。當時她邀請友人及其子女到家中作客。租客Bridget Reed報警抱怨噪音。Reed在一周前因沒有準時付租金而收到30天的搬家通知,而前一天也因為兩人爭吵使得Richardson報警處理。    據訴狀指稱,警官Vanderpool和Martinez到達現場後表現粗魯,Richardson表明自己的警察身份後,要求兩人取得搜查令後再來。    Reed和女兒則告訴警方他們受到Richardson友人的威脅。警方及後破門而入,Martinez用電擊槍電Richardson。    Richardson及友人拒捕罪後來由法官駁回不受理。

  14. This story was reported in a Hong Kong newspaper–

    (本報訊)三藩市警方一名女警對東灣安迪奧(Antioch)市政府提出聯邦民事訴訟,控訴該市一名警官在她試圖逐出家中房客的一場爭吵中,用Taser電擊槍電擊她。    41歲非裔女警Marvetia Lynn Richardson是一名有14年資歷的三藩市警員,目前正在休無薪假。她表示去年安迪奧警方破門而入,用電擊槍電她,她拒絕在拒捕的告票上簽名,並試圖在告票上寫下遭電擊字樣。一名警員遂將告票撕掉並將她帶入獄。    Richardson表示,安迪奧警方越來越常在沒有搜查令之下進入民居騷擾居民,從聯邦補助房屋中趕走非裔租客,她所遭遇的正是該市警方這種做法的後果。Richardson擁有自家房屋,且未受聯邦住屋援助。     官司已入稟三藩市聯邦法院,點名控告安迪奧市政府、警察局長James Hyde、警佐Thomas Fuhrmann、警員Santiago Martinez Jr.、Jason Vanderpool和Jason Joannides,要求賠償對她造成的精神受損、薪資損失及醫療費用。    安迪奧市府否認過失,並表示警察在調查該戶居民可能受到暴力威脅的通報時執法得當。    事件發生在2007年6月7日午夜,地點是Mokelumne Drive的Richardson家中。當時她邀請友人及其子女到家中作客。租客Bridget Reed報警抱怨噪音。Reed在一周前因沒有準時付租金而收到30天的搬家通知,而前一天也因為兩人爭吵使得Richardson報警處理。    據訴狀指稱,警官Vanderpool和Martinez到達現場後表現粗魯,Richardson表明自己的警察身份後,要求兩人取得搜查令後再來。    Reed和女兒則告訴警方他們受到Richardson友人的威脅。警方及後破門而入,Martinez用電擊槍電Richardson。    Richardson及友人拒捕罪後來由法官駁回不受理。

  15. This story was reported in a Hong Kong newspaper–

    (本報訊)三藩市警方一名女警對東灣安迪奧(Antioch)市政府提出聯邦民事訴訟,控訴該市一名警官在她試圖逐出家中房客的一場爭吵中,用Taser電擊槍電擊她。    41歲非裔女警Marvetia Lynn Richardson是一名有14年資歷的三藩市警員,目前正在休無薪假。她表示去年安迪奧警方破門而入,用電擊槍電她,她拒絕在拒捕的告票上簽名,並試圖在告票上寫下遭電擊字樣。一名警員遂將告票撕掉並將她帶入獄。    Richardson表示,安迪奧警方越來越常在沒有搜查令之下進入民居騷擾居民,從聯邦補助房屋中趕走非裔租客,她所遭遇的正是該市警方這種做法的後果。Richardson擁有自家房屋,且未受聯邦住屋援助。     官司已入稟三藩市聯邦法院,點名控告安迪奧市政府、警察局長James Hyde、警佐Thomas Fuhrmann、警員Santiago Martinez Jr.、Jason Vanderpool和Jason Joannides,要求賠償對她造成的精神受損、薪資損失及醫療費用。    安迪奧市府否認過失,並表示警察在調查該戶居民可能受到暴力威脅的通報時執法得當。    事件發生在2007年6月7日午夜,地點是Mokelumne Drive的Richardson家中。當時她邀請友人及其子女到家中作客。租客Bridget Reed報警抱怨噪音。Reed在一周前因沒有準時付租金而收到30天的搬家通知,而前一天也因為兩人爭吵使得Richardson報警處理。    據訴狀指稱,警官Vanderpool和Martinez到達現場後表現粗魯,Richardson表明自己的警察身份後,要求兩人取得搜查令後再來。    Reed和女兒則告訴警方他們受到Richardson友人的威脅。警方及後破門而入,Martinez用電擊槍電Richardson。    Richardson及友人拒捕罪後來由法官駁回不受理。

  16. This story was reported in a Hong Kong newspaper–

    (本報訊)三藩市警方一名女警對東灣安迪奧(Antioch)市政府提出聯邦民事訴訟,控訴該市一名警官在她試圖逐出家中房客的一場爭吵中,用Taser電擊槍電擊她。    41歲非裔女警Marvetia Lynn Richardson是一名有14年資歷的三藩市警員,目前正在休無薪假。她表示去年安迪奧警方破門而入,用電擊槍電她,她拒絕在拒捕的告票上簽名,並試圖在告票上寫下遭電擊字樣。一名警員遂將告票撕掉並將她帶入獄。    Richardson表示,安迪奧警方越來越常在沒有搜查令之下進入民居騷擾居民,從聯邦補助房屋中趕走非裔租客,她所遭遇的正是該市警方這種做法的後果。Richardson擁有自家房屋,且未受聯邦住屋援助。     官司已入稟三藩市聯邦法院,點名控告安迪奧市政府、警察局長James Hyde、警佐Thomas Fuhrmann、警員Santiago Martinez Jr.、Jason Vanderpool和Jason Joannides,要求賠償對她造成的精神受損、薪資損失及醫療費用。    安迪奧市府否認過失,並表示警察在調查該戶居民可能受到暴力威脅的通報時執法得當。    事件發生在2007年6月7日午夜,地點是Mokelumne Drive的Richardson家中。當時她邀請友人及其子女到家中作客。租客Bridget Reed報警抱怨噪音。Reed在一周前因沒有準時付租金而收到30天的搬家通知,而前一天也因為兩人爭吵使得Richardson報警處理。    據訴狀指稱,警官Vanderpool和Martinez到達現場後表現粗魯,Richardson表明自己的警察身份後,要求兩人取得搜查令後再來。    Reed和女兒則告訴警方他們受到Richardson友人的威脅。警方及後破門而入,Martinez用電擊槍電Richardson。    Richardson及友人拒捕罪後來由法官駁回不受理。

  17. In reading the story, I realize this is more than just about the possible misuse of the Taser. This is about what a court has ruled an illegal entry and about possible civil rights violations, even if there wasn’t a racial dimension.

    However, I have a question regarding Taser lawsuits against police departments: Do they have a history of succeeding?

    It seems to me every time I have heard a case where someone who was
    Tasered by the cops and sued saying they were needlessly Tasered or injured from the Tasering the plaintiffs have lost. Anyone know if my recall of the history is right?

  18. In reading the story, I realize this is more than just about the possible misuse of the Taser. This is about what a court has ruled an illegal entry and about possible civil rights violations, even if there wasn’t a racial dimension.

    However, I have a question regarding Taser lawsuits against police departments: Do they have a history of succeeding?

    It seems to me every time I have heard a case where someone who was
    Tasered by the cops and sued saying they were needlessly Tasered or injured from the Tasering the plaintiffs have lost. Anyone know if my recall of the history is right?

  19. In reading the story, I realize this is more than just about the possible misuse of the Taser. This is about what a court has ruled an illegal entry and about possible civil rights violations, even if there wasn’t a racial dimension.

    However, I have a question regarding Taser lawsuits against police departments: Do they have a history of succeeding?

    It seems to me every time I have heard a case where someone who was
    Tasered by the cops and sued saying they were needlessly Tasered or injured from the Tasering the plaintiffs have lost. Anyone know if my recall of the history is right?

  20. In reading the story, I realize this is more than just about the possible misuse of the Taser. This is about what a court has ruled an illegal entry and about possible civil rights violations, even if there wasn’t a racial dimension.

    However, I have a question regarding Taser lawsuits against police departments: Do they have a history of succeeding?

    It seems to me every time I have heard a case where someone who was
    Tasered by the cops and sued saying they were needlessly Tasered or injured from the Tasering the plaintiffs have lost. Anyone know if my recall of the history is right?