#Antioch Police Department

[morbidology]

Born on August 25, 1965, in Louisville, Kentucky, Mia Zapata grew up in a family that nurtured her artistic inclinations. From a young age, she displayed a deep passion for music, influenced by artists such as Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith. Zapata learned to play the guitar and piano and by her teenage years, she was already honing her vocal talents.

In 1984, Zapata moved to Ohio to attend Antioch College, where she studied liberal arts. It was here that she co-founded the punk band The Gits in 1986. The band, which was known for its raw energy and Zapata's soulful, powerful voice, quickly gained a following.

In 1989, Zapata and her bandmates relocated to Seattle, a city that was emerging as a hotbed for alternative music, soon to be internationally recognised as the birthplace of grunge. The Gits became a fixture in the Seattle music scene, earning respect for their intense live performances and Zapata's emotionally charged lyrics.

Seattle, during this time, was teeming with creativity, with bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam redefining the sound of rock music. The Gits, though not as commercially successful, were deeply respected by their peers and had a dedicated following.

On the night of July 7, 1993, Mia Zapata left the Comet Tavern, a popular hangout in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, after spending the evening with friends. She never made it home. Her body was discovered early the next morning in the Central District of Seattle. She had been brutally beaten, sexually assaulted, and strangled to death.

The news of Zapata’s murder sent shockwaves through the Seattle community and beyond. In the wake of her death, local musicians and community members came together to form Home Alive, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing self-defense classes and raising awareness about violence against women.

For nearly a decade, Mia Zapata’s murder remained unsolved. The Seattle Police Department, despite extensive investigations, was unable to identify a suspect.

But then in 2001, a routine search through the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System yielded a match between DNA found on Zapata’s body and that of Jesus Mezquia, a Florida fisherman with a criminal record. Mezquia was arrested in 2002 and extradited to Seattle to stand trial for Zapata’s murder.

In 2004, Jesus Mezquia was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 36 years in prison.

[reasoningdaily]

The District attorney dropped the charges due to an investigation into text messages of the police department…the DA felt that the officers who burned her body were targeted in the investigation despite the fact they were caught on video setting her afire.

The men were captured on security cameras borrowing a dolly from a 7-Eleven and pushing the dumpster four blocks to a paved trail, where witnesses from a nearby homeless encampment saw them allegedly pour lighter fluid into the dumpster and set Sharlman's body on fire, Eason said. Roughly a week later, after Sharlman's family reported the 25-year-old as missing, Eason said authorities confirmed her death.

The sister of a woman whose torched body was discovered in a dumpster last year slammed Northern California prosecutors after they dropped charges against two men accused in her death, citing the case’s link to racist and derogatory text messages that have shaken a local police department.

Nicole Eason told NBC News that the messages — which were released earlier this year after a joint investigation into the Antioch Police Department by the FBI and the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office — should have had no effect on the prosecution of Ashton Montalvo and Deangelo Boone.

Eason called the decision to drop the charges “unacceptable” and said that prosecutors should “recant and scrutinize" evidence that she described as insurmountable, including security video and eyewitness testimony.

“We’re getting ready to lawyer up” Eason said. “We’re getting ready to fight.”

A spokesman for the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office declined to comment. In a statement Wednesday, the prosecutor’s office "extended its deepest sympathies" to Sharlman's family and said it would seek to renew the prosecution if possible.

The spokesman, Ted Asregadoo, said in an earlier email that prosecutors are "hopeful APD can pursue other investigative avenues and bring our office more evidence to review for a charging decision."

The statement said the prosecutor's office dropped the charges because the case relied heavily on the investigative work of officers associated with the text messages.

"After thoroughly reviewing the officers’ role in this case, applying relevant legal principles, and considering ethical responsibilities, the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office no longer has confidence in the integrity of this prosecution," the statement said.

The officers were not identified, and it isn't clear which messages they sent or received.

An Antioch Police Department spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment, nor did a lawyer for the local police union.Homophobic slurs, racist images

The messages, from 2020 and 2021, were sent and received by dozens of officers and include homophobic slurs, racist images and the casual discussion of using “less lethal” weapons on people, including the city’s mayor, who is Black, according to an investigative report compiled by the Contra Costa District Attorney's Office.

California's Attorney General opened an investigation last month to determine if the police department engaged in a pattern and practice of unconstitutional policing.

Asregadoo said Wednesday's announcement marked the first time the prosecutor's office has dropped a felony case linked to the messages.Overdose death

Eason described her younger sister as the "life of the party" — someone who loved praise dancing at church and dreamed of opening a salon. She fell in with friends who were into drugs and began experimenting, Eason said.

The medical examiner determined that Sharlman died of a fentanyl overdose, said Eason, noting that her family had attended all of the court dates in her sister's death, including the preliminary hearing, where a judge determines if prosecutors have sufficient evidence to make a defendant stand trial.

Eason said that during court testimony Montalvo and Boone were accused of dumping her sister's body in a dumpster they grabbed from a nearby building after she overdose at an abandoned apartment in Antioch, a city of roughly 114,000 northeast of San Francisco.

The men were captured on security cameras borrowing a dolly from a 7-Eleven and pushing the dumpster four blocks to a paved trail, where witnesses from a nearby homeless encampment saw them allegedly pour lighter fluid into the dumpster and set Sharlman's body on fire, Eason said.

Roughly a week later, after Sharlman's family reported the 25-year-old as missing, Eason said authorities confirmed her death. Eason compared the events to labor pains.

"I didn't have the joy of getting the baby out," she said. "We got death instead."

Lawyers for Montalvo and Boone did not respond to requests for comment.

The family found some solace in learning of Sharlman's cause of death, Eason said. She died before her body was torched, Eason said. The family was further heartened by the department's handling of the case, which Eason described as "nothing short of amazing," and by the arrests that followed.

"For us to have suspects in custody was exceptional," she said. "It was a win, and it doesn't always happen like that. Although they're under scrutiny now, they did their due diligence before they detained these two men."

Eason added that her family was "devastated" to learn that a detective involved in the case was linked to the text messages.

"However, this scandal came out after my sister's death," Eason said. "It shouldn't have had any bearing on the evidence."

Tim Stelloh

Tim Stelloh is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.

[ausetkmt]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nine current or former Northern California police officers were charged Thursday in a federal corruption investigation that found evidence they committed civil rights violations and fraud in an effort to get a pay raise and lied on reports to cover up the use of excessive force, U.S. authorities said.

Ismail J. Ramsey, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, filed four indictments that outlined charges including wire fraud, deprivation of rights under color of law, conspiracy against rights, and conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids. Nine police officers and one community service officer are named in the charges, though only two are charged in multiple indictments.

The investigation centered on the departments in Antioch and Pittsburg, two cities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Only three of the officers remain employed by the departments and were not on active duty, officials said.

Arrest warrants were served Thursday in California, Texas and Hawaii, said Robert Tripp, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Francisco Field Office. One has not yet been arrested, officials said.

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.

Rombough appeared in Oakland federal court dressed in ripped clothes, with bloody hands and knees and wearing a shirt that read: “don’t weaken,” the Bay Area News Group reported.

His attorney, Will Edelman, told the judge that there was “absolutely no reason” that his client had to be taken into custody and handcuffed because he would have willingly appeared if ordered.

The defendants could face decades in federal prison if convicted of the charges.

Tripp said the arrests were the result of a two-year investigation.

“Any breach of the public’s trust is absolutely unacceptable,” Tripp said while discussing charges against Antioch officers that include using their official positions as officers to deprive people of their rights.

Charges against Amiri, Rombough and Devon Christopher Wenger say the three Antioch police officers conspired between February 2019 and March 2022 “to injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate residents of Antioch, California” and later falsified reports about the encounters.

In obscenity-laden text messages, the three men referred to some suspects as “gorillas.” They laughed and joked about harming people who apparently had surrendered or appeared to be asleep by setting Amiri’s police dog on them or Rombough shooting them with a 40mm “less-lethal” projectile launcher, the indictment said.

Prosecutors say from 2019 to 2021, the dog bit 28 people while Rombough used the launcher 11 times in 2020 and 2021.

Amiri posted graphic photos of the dog wounds, and Rombough said he was keeping the projectiles to make a trophy flag, according to the indictment.

In one case, a man suspected of five armed robberies had given up and was lying on the ground when Amiri’s K-9 bit him, the indictment alleged.

In one text, Amiri wrote: “let’s (f-obscenity) some people up next work week.”

Amiri says that he will find some action and write up the police report, adding: “Just come over and crush some skulls.”

In one 2020 text sequence, Amiri says that he confronted a transient he believed had stolen his mail “and dragged him to the back of a car to ‘discuss’ the matter.”

“Lol. Putting a pistol in someone’s mouth and telling them to stop stealing isn’t illegal,” he texted. “It’s an act of public service to prevent further victims of crimes”

“Defendants authored police reports containing false and misleading statements to suggest that the force they used was necessary and justifiable,” the indictment said. “In truth and in fact, and as the Defendants well knew, Defendants willfully used excessive force in numerous incidents, including those identified in this Indictment.”

Police unions did not immediately respond to requests for information on whether the defendants had lawyers who can speak on their behalf. Emails to the Pittsburg and Antioch police departments seeking comment were not immediately returned.

Thousands of incendiary text messages by more than a dozen officers in the Antioch Police Department had previously come to light and led to a federal lawsuit. The texts contained derogatory, racist, homophobic and sexually explicit language. In some of them, the officers bragged about making up evidence and beating up suspects. They freely used racial slurs and made light of the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.

The city of Antioch, with about 115,000 residents 45 miles (72 kilometers) east of San Francisco, was once predominantly white but has diversified in the last 30 years. Federal and state prosecutors have dropped or dismissed dozens of cases that relied on the impugned officers, and the city now faces a federal civil rights lawsuit over the text messages.

Jalapa, Mejia-Orozco and Amanda Carmella Theodosy/Nash, as well as Antioch community service officer Peterson, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud surrounding allegations they had other people take and complete online university courses toward a criminal justice degree. The police departments offered reimbursement for college tuition and pay raises for those who graduate college, prosecutors said.

Two Antioch officers, Daniel Harris and Wenger, were charged with several counts related to distributing anabolic steroids.

Another Antioch officer, Timothy Manly Williams, faces charges related to the obstruction of a federal investigation for allegedly using a personal cellphone in 2021 to talk to the target of an FBI wiretap investigation and then made sure the call wasn’t recorded or accurately logged.

“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,” Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe said in a statement. “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.”

Thorpe is among three Black, progressive members of the five-person council who have said they are committed to holding police accountable.

“To those that have accused me and others of being anti-police for seeking to reform the Antioch Police Department, today’s arrests are demonstrative of the issues that have plagued the Antioch Police Department for decades,” he added.

[beardedmrbean]

An Antioch, Illinois, man was arrested on Saturday after allegedly driving to Wisconsin to pick up a teenager he met through social media, driving her to his house and sexually abusing her.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said 25-year-old George Soriano faces charges of two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and one count of traveling to meet a minor.

Deputies responded to a residence on North Bonham Court in unincorporated Antioch at about 3:15 a.m. on Saturday after a caller told the 911 operator she and a friend were picked up by Soriano at their home in Wisconsin.

After picking the girls up, Soriano drove them to his home and allegedly sexually assaulted one of them, who was 13 years old.

CHICAGO SUFFERS 34 SHOT, 8 KILLED AS BLOODY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND NEARS END

Both girls were picked up by deputies and taken to an area hospital to be evaluated.

The sheriff’s office said a further investigation discovered Soriano met the girls on social media, and on Saturday, he communicated with them through the social media app and made plans to pick them up.

According to a press release from the department, the girls said they feared Soriano because he had a gun.

MAN WHO SHOT SUBURBAN CHICAGO OFFICER HIT WITH ADDITIONAL ARMED ROBBERY CHARGE

Police also said Soriano may have met with at least one of the girls prior to Saturday’s incident.

A search of Soriano’s home revealed he also had a cannabis growing operation.

Soriano was taken into custody and held in the Lake County Jail, pending a court hearing on Sunday.

[particularj]

Okay this headline is shit. Because it does not prepare you for the depth of this pit. Trigger warnings abound - read if you dare but you should know how bad it is.

The Antioch, CA police department is a cess pool of racist, sexist, violent, and harassing behavior.

You can’t reform this shit.

Abolish the police.

[cannabisbusinessexecutive]

Raid finds an illegal weed grow in home owned by Oakland police officer

When officers of the state Department of Cannabis Control swooped in on a neighborhood in the Bay Area city of Antioch this spring, they found what they were looking for — about $1 million in illegal marijuana — and one surprise. One of the three houses they raided was owned by an officer of the Oakland Police Department. In an email, the department confirmed that it “is aware of the allegations…

[dianadirkby]

Disappeared In A Hush

The Most Notorious Kidnappings To Date

Imagine living happily, cherishing moments of joy and fun with your family, when suddenly one of your loved ones seems nowhere to be found. Maybe they got vanished without a trace—leaving no clue for anything but suspicion.

This reality can be nightmarish, and for families who might have experienced such distress, it can be extremely daunting and nerve-racking—when one of their or more family members go missing—or kidnapped!

Honestly, kidnappings have garnered massive headlines in the United States since the 19th century. From the children of wealthy businessmen and celebrities to a personal grudge, many cases drew massive media attention because of the age of the victims and the horrendous nature of the crimes, as well as the many twists and turns.

Here are some of the most famous kidnappings to date:

The Cleveland Kidnappings

Between 2002 and 2004, three young women were abducted from the streets of Cleveland, Ohio, and held captive for a decade in the home of their abductor, Ariel Castro. The three were Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Gina DeJesus, who endured unimaginable suffering at the hands of their captor. But one day, Berry eventually escaped to the neighborhood and managed to call 911, and the rescue of the other captives led to Castro’s arrest and conviction on hundreds of criminal charges and abusive claims. His life sentence was cut short by suicide in his cell a month later. Despite the fact that the three girls were found after almost 9 years, the case serves as a chilling reminder of the darkness that can exist within seemingly ordinary people.

Suggested read: "Three Kidnapped, Three Siblings, Three Furies" by Diana Dirkby is a chilling descent into a world of disappearance, darkness, and suspense. This gripping novel unravels the horrifying mystery surrounding the abrupt disappearance of three teenagers in the seemingly idyllic town of Vrayboro. As the investigation deepens, a sinister connection emerges, linking the case to the vengeful acts of the Three Furies from Greek mythology. The narrative unfolds through multiple perspectives, creating a web of intrigue and suspense that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Prepare to be captivated by a story that blurs the lines between reality and myth as the author masterfully explores the darkest corners of the human psyche.

Jaycee Lee Dugard

In 1991, 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard was kidnapped from a school bus stop on a South Lake Tahoe street in California in front of her stepfather. She was held for 18 years in a series of tents and sheds in the backyard of an abandoned Antioch home, during which time she gave birth to two daughters after being repeatedly raped by her captor, Phillip Garrido—a registered sex offender. Dugard was 29 years old when Garrido's parole officers discovered the truth about her identity, and both Garrido and his wife admitted their crimes—chilling—right?

Adam Walsh

Adam Walsh, son of John Walsh—host and a producer of America's Most Wanted, and Revé Walsh, was abducted on July 27, 1981, when he was six years old. Revé had left him alone for 10 minutes in the toy department — and then he was gone—nowhere to be found. What was so terrifying and shocking about this story was that Adam’s severed head was discovered weeks later in Vero Beach, Florida. After almost 27 years of his disappearance, in 2008, police declared that Ottis Toole, a convicted serial killer, had killed Adam—who died in prison in 1996.

Jayme Closs

Jake Patterson abducted Jayme Closs after seeing her board a school bus one morning. After days of planning, he broke into the girl's home and killed her parents with a shotgun before fleeing with her in the trunk of his car. Jayme remained captive for nearly three months in Patterson’s cabin until she escaped on foot while he was away. A woman out walking recognized her took her in, and called the police,  leading to the arrest of Patterson, two life sentences for killing Closs’s parents and 40 years for kidnapping her. The case was massive news and still sent shivers down the spine.

[sa7abnews]

Former Bay Area correctional officer pleads to accepting bribes

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/06/former-bay-area-correctional-officer-pleads-to-accepting-bribes/

Former Bay Area correctional officer pleads to accepting bribes

A 44-year-old former California Medical Facility correctional officer pleaded guilty earlier this year to bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds and will be sentenced in September. Stephen Joseph Crittenden, of Suisun City, entered his plea on April 11 in a federal courtroom in Sacramento, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert said in a press statement. According to court documents, Crittenden worked at CMF, a state prison at 1600 California Drive in Vacaville. In 2021 through 2023, he accepted bribes totaling more than $45,000 to smuggle cellphones into the medical facility, noted Talbert, who leads the U.S. Department of Justice’s Eastern District of California. Related Articles

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‘Follow the money’: Trial begins for ex-Antioch cop charged with college degree scam

As previously reported, a federal grand jury indicted Crittenden on Sept. 14, 2023. He was arrested by the FBI, jailed, but later released and remains out of custody. Scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 12 by U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley,  Crittenden faces a maximum prison term of 10 years and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court and federal sentencing guidelines, which take into account a number of variables, Talbert noted in the prepared statement. The case stemmed from an investigation by the FBI, with assistance from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas M. Fogg leads the prosecution.

[neyatimes]

California court will consider anti-discrimination law in hearing over racist texts by officers

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A judge was expected on Friday to consider whether Northern California police officers who exchanged racist text messages violated a state law aimed at stamping out racism in the criminal justice system. A group of Antioch Police Department officers have been asked to testify in a San Francisco Bay Area courtroom on heavily redacted text messages made public in April by the…

[wausaupilot]

Illinois police seize carnival ride after boy, 10, was thrown from ride and seriously injured

“The outcome of this week’s inspections of the ride necessitated us to immediately secure it as evidence," Antioch Police Chief Geoffrey Guttschow said in a news release.

ANTIOCH, Ill. (AP) — Northern Illinois police have seized a carnival ride as they continue investigating a Sunday incident in which a 10-year-old boy was seriously injured when he was thrown from his seat. After the Illinois Department of Labor finished inspecting the ride Wednesday, police in the village of Antioch and the Lake County State’s Attorney’s office sought and obtained a search…

[rebeleden]

20 Times The Cops Were Exposed for Their Racism

KKKILLER KKKOPS REIGN

[ausetkmt]

Dozens of community members, families of police violence and activists joined a rally outside of the Antioch Police Department on April 18, 2023, to protest the racist and homophobic text messages shared among the department. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

The FBI arrested nine East Bay police officers on Thursday for alleged civil rights violations, interfering with investigations and defrauding their employers, Ismail Ramsey, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, said at a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

The arrests were made in a series of raids early Thursday morning across and beyond the Bay Area, following an 18-month FBI investigation and the release of four federal grand jury indictments against the officers. Charges include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, deprivation of civil rights and destruction of records.

“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,” Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe said in a written statement shortly after the arrests. “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.”

The FBI arrested nine officers on Thursday and a total of 10 have been charged across four indictments, federal law enforcement officials said at the press conference Thursday. Eight of those arrested have made initial court appearances so far.

“This case is one of the highest priorities for the San Francisco Field Office,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert K. Tripp. “Law enforcement officers bear a tremendous responsibility to police out communities lawfully in keeping with the constitution, and we must always be true to that guiding principle.”A chart showing the list of charges against Antioch and Pittsburg police officers by a federal grand jury on Aug. 16, 2023. (Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman/KQED)

“Today’s announcement reporting the arrest of current and former APD officers is disheartening and undermines the incredible work our staff does on a daily basis,” Acting Antioch Chief of Police Joe Vigil said in a press release. “Any police officer who breaks public trust must be held accountable, especially because our effectiveness relies heavily on confidence and support from our community.”

The first indictment includes charges against Morteza Amiri and Samantha Genoveva Peterson of the APD, along with Pittsburg Police Department officers Brauli Rodriguez Jalapa, Ernesto Juan Mejia-Orozco, and Amanda Carmella Theodosy-Nash, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and faking college credits in order to receive pay bumps.

The second indictment alleges that APD officers Daniel Harris and Devon Wenger illegally obtained and distributed anabolic steroids, and for attempting to destroy evidence that they had tried to do so.

Timothy Manly Williams of the APD was indicted on obstruction of evidence and for destroying and falsifying records to obstruct a federal investigation using a wiretap.

The fourth and final indictment announced Thursday alleges that Morteza Amiri, Eric Rombough and Devon Wenger, all with the APD, carried out what Ramsey called a “disturbing litany” of civil rights violations. The violations include inappropriately deploying a canine and other weapons in order to deliberately harm individuals in Antioch.

Ramsey said that officers shared photos of their victims’ injuries and collected mementos from attacks, such as ammunition used against people of Antioch. “Defendants boasted about their illegal uses of force,” the federal attorney said.

The investigation is still ongoing.

The indictments and subsequent arrests mark a turning point for many members of the community who have been reeling from the recent police scandals.

The investigation kicked off in 2022 after concerns were raised about police officers who lied about their college degrees. But the FBI and Contra Costa County district attorney’s investigation into the local police department would reveal far more crimes and civil rights violations from Antioch and Pittsburg officers.

Among discoveries was a culture of explicitly racist and homophobic messages sent between numerous Antioch police officers. The investigation revealed officers not only using racial epithets including the N-word and describing Black people as “gorillas,” but it also showed officers had falsified confessions to build cases and physically assault suspects.

In several messages, the officers bragged about racial profiling and beating suspects.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta launched a separate civil rights investigation into the APD in May, after it was revealed that officers had exchanged racist and homophobic text messages about community members and people in custody.

“It is our job to protect and serve all of our communities,” Bonta said in a press release announcing his investigation. “Police departments are on the front lines of that fight every day as they work to safeguard the people of our state. However, where there are allegations of potentially pervasive bias or discrimination, it can undermine the trust that is critical for public safety and our justice system. It is our responsibility to ensure that we establish a culture of accountability, professionalism, and zero tolerance for hateful or racist behavior, on or off duty.”

Former Antioch Police Chief Steven Ford announced his retirement last month and officially stepped down on Aug. 11 amid the scandal.

The spiraling revelations have impacted nearly half of the department’s sworn officers, and texts were exchanged between nearly 45 Antioch officers. As of July, 40 out of 90 officers were no longer working, the East Bay Times reports.

Dozens of cases that officers in the probe were involved in have since been dropped or derailed.

Robert Collins, whose step-son Angelo Quinto was killed by Antioch police in December 2020, told KQED that the arrests were an important step in rebuilding trust that has been lost between the community and its law enforcement officials.

“It’s amazing and shocking and sad that the lack of transparency and accountability has led to a police department that is so culturally deficient and problems that are so ingrained, so pervasive. But it’s good that there is some accountability and transparency coming out of the results of this federal indictment,” Collins told KQED. “It’s painful, but it’s a first step in improving the situation.”

Bella Quinto Collins, Quinto’s younger sister, was cautiously optimistic.

“This arrest is really good news,” she told KQED, “But at the same time, I don’t see this as necessarily the end of anything. It’s pretty clear that there’s still an ongoing issue within the culture of APD and there’s so much more work to be done to look into other officers that seem to be involved in various other issues and who are implicated in those text messages.”

Gigi Crowder, executive director of National Alliance on Mental Illness in Contra Costa, called the arrests “one step in a long road,” and that a lot of young people and families she works with have grown fearful of their own law enforcement agency.

“This might send a message to officers who hold those beliefs but hadn’t been involved … that you can’t get away with being asked to protect and serve and carry these racial belief systems about a community.”

She added: “We get complaints from across the county. If they do deeper probing, they will find it’s not isolated to Pittsburg and Antioch.”

Mayor Thorpe has previously faced criticism for seeking accountability for officer misconduct. In his written statement on Thursday, the mayor wrote: “Today’s arrests are demonstrative of the issues that have plagued the Antioch Police Department for decades. Seeking to reform the Antioch Police Department is not anti-police, it is pro our residents, and pro officers that have served and continue to serve with honor.”

[beardedmrbean]

Police in Antioch, California, arrested a man on Monday who allegedly punched a fast food restaurant employee in the face, causing her to lose an eye, authorities said.

The Antioch Police Department had received calls on Nov. 12 at around 5:25 p.m. local time (8:25 p.m. ET) reporting an assault at The Habit Burger, located in the San Francisco Bay Area, police said in a statement posted to Facebook.

Responding officers found that an employee at the restaurant had been punched in the face multiple times "after protecting an individual with an intellectual disability from being bullied."

"The victim lost her right eye because of the incident," police said.

The victim, 19-year-old Bianca Palomera, said the suspect allegedly used slurs toward someone she identified as her co-worker's brother and threatened "to beat him up," according to NBC Bay Area.

"That's when I step in and I say, you know, 'it's not right what you're doing,'" she told the news station.

In surveillance footage of the attack, the suspect appears to get in Palomera's face and hit her. Palomera fought back and was hit again multiple times, NBC Bay Area reported.

The United States Marshals Service arrested Isaac White-Carter, 20, of Hayward, in connection with the incident on Monday morning after a weeks-long investigation. He was turned over to Antioch police and charged with felony counts of mayhem and aggravated assault causing great bodily injury, according to the statement.

It's not clear if White-Carter has an attorney at this time.

The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office, who did not immediately return requests for comment, will be prosecuting this case.

In a statement, the Antioch Police Department expressed their "support and gratitude to the victim for helping a community member in need."

Palomera said she doesn't regret stepping in to help.

"This is probably the last thing that I would've expected out of anything, but I don't fully regret, you know, helping, stepping in," she told NBC Bay Area. "It could've been worse for my coworker's brother."