Martinez Police Officer Fired Following Repeated Use-of-Force Violations; Misconduct Disclosed in Aftermath of Fatal Officer-Involved Shooting at Velvet Dispensary

Records released by city document unnecessary force, other violations, by officers during 2023 incidents at Amtrak Station, Velvet dispensary; shooting investigation continues

A Martinez police officer who was suspended for using unnecessary force, among other violations of Police Department policy, against a suspect during an April 2023 encounter at the Amtrak Station was later fired for actions related to his response to the fatal officer-involved shooting at the Velvet cannabis dispensary in August of that year.

Officer Giani Arone, who had worked as a Martinez police officer since June of 2021, was fired in January of 2024 by police Chief Andrew White, according to records released Friday as part of the department’s ongoing investigation related to the Velvet shooting that resulted in the death of 20-year-old Oakland man Tahmon Wilson. Arone appealed his termination to City Manager Michael Chandler and the Civil Service Commission, who both upheld White’s decision.

Arone was not one of the four offices who fired their weapons during that incident but arrived at the scene following the shooting.

The records released Friday also reveal that only one of the four officers who fired their weapons while responding to the burglary call at Velvet, located on Sunrise Drive, in the early morning hours of Aug. 18, 2023 remains on the Martinez police force. Cole Bennett and Alexander Tirona, who were both on probationary status as new hires, were not retained by the department; and Marc Kahue died of leukemia on Jan. 28 of this year. Raul Mendez-Ceja, the fourth officer involved in the shooting who was working his first patrol shift that night, remains employed as a Martinez officer.

The Velvet cannabis dispensary on Sunrise Drive

The ongoing investigation into whether the four officers were justified in firing their weapons is being handled by the state Department of Justice. None of the records released by the city Friday speak to what the ultimate outcome of that investigation might be.

Friday’s release was in accordance with a state law requiring that records in such incidents be publicly released within 18 months. The Police Department said that it plans to release additional records over the next 30 days.

“The records provide additional information and insight into what occurred but are not the entire body of evidence collected by the DOJ and under their consideration,” Martinez Police said in a news release about the documents Friday evening.

According to the documents, Arone arrived at the Velvet scene after the four officers had fired on the vehicle driven by Wilson and it crashed. The passenger, identified previously as Tahmon’s brother Thomas, had also been shot. According to a memo from police Chief Andrew White explaining the decision to fire Arone, a suspect had “exited the vehicle at the direction of officers and was then handcuffed without resisting.” Nevertheless, according to the memo, Arone “delivered two or three knee strikes to the suspect’s head/face area.”

“Given the totality of the circumstances, the force was not justified because the suspect was handcuffed, not resisting and was not disobeying any commands that he had been given,” White wrote.

Arone testified during his Civil Service Commission appeal that he didn’t know that the suspect had been shot and handcuffed at the time he delivered the knee strikes.

After learning that officers had shot Thomas Wilson, Arone reportedly said to him, “Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.”

“Making that taunting statement to someone who had been shot and against whom you had just used unjustified force” violated the department’s policy against disgraceful conduct, White wrote.

According to the Civil Service Commission report, Arone regretted his statement as “insensitive and in bad taste.”

Arone was also implicated in an incident involving Bennett at the scene in which Bennett was carrying knives that he allegedly asked Arone to conceal. According to the documents released Friday, Bennett asked Arone to “do him a favor” as the investigation into the shooting was commencing, after which Bennett gave the knives to Arone, who slipped them into a backpack in his patrol vehicle. In officer-involved shooting situations, officers are not allowed to alter their their uniform or equipment.

According to White’s memo, Arone never notified the department of the knife incident, a violation of department policy that requires the reporting of activities that may violate department policy or criminal statutes. One of the knives was of a type that is prohibited from being carried on duty and is also prohibited to be carried as a concealed weapon by anyone.

“Your conduct regarding the knives given to you by another officer during this incident is disgraceful and reveals that you cannot be trusted to perform the duties of a police officer,” White wrote in his intent to terminate memo.

“Arone admitted before the Internal Affairs investigator that he realized at the time that it was likely a policy violation that Officer Bennett was attempting to conceal when he handed him the knives,” the Civil Service Commission report states. Arone also explained, according to the report, that he didn’t believe the policy violation would be a “very big deal” because the knives weren’t used during the Velvet incident.

The records released Friday also revealed that Tirona had told Bennett at the shooting scene to “to get rid” of the prohibited knife in an apparent attempt to cover up the violation. Both Tirona and Bennett were cited by the department for engaging in disgraceful conduct and conduct unbecoming of a member of the police force over the knife incident. The department also concluded that Bennett had committed a misdemeanor or felony violation by possessing the concealed knife.

Bennett and Tirona had already been released from probationary employment when the investigation into the knife incident was completed.

“It is disappointing that misconduct occurred at the scene of this incident after the shooting and understandably adds a layer of complexity to the officer-involved shooting investigation,” White said in Friday’s news release. “Once we learned of the misconduct, we took immediate action, conducting thorough investigations, and ultimately imposing termination as a disciplinary measure. As a department, we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of professional conduct.”

In the Amtrak incident that preceded the one at Velvet, Arone responded to a call concerning a suspect loitering in the area and refusing to leave. (The person whom Arone encountered upon arriving at the scene was different from the one identified in the call.) According to a memo from White to Arone on Nov. 29, 2023 explaining his decision to suspend him without pay for 20 days, Arone grabbed the suspect by the shirt following a verbal altercation between the two, then pinned him on his back and put his knee on his chest.

White told Arone that his actions “constituted a use of force that was not necessary to accomplish a legitimate law enforcement purpose.”

White said elsewhere in the memo that Arone violated department policy in failing to document his use of force on the suspect and report it to his supervisor, and in failing to to activate his body-worn camera. White also recounted profanity-laced comments that Arone reportedly made to the suspect during the altercation that were “discourteous and unwarranted.”

“All of the rules you violated exist to ensure that the Martinez Police Department acts with integrity, engenders and maintains the public trust, and mitigates potential liability,” White wrote to Arone in explaining the suspension.

Arone was suspended without pay for 10 hours on each of eight days, and had 80 hours of leave deducted from his vacation balance.

The suspect in the encounter with Arone last year sued the city in U.S. District Court over the incident.

The Amtrak incident first came to the attention of city officials when a person who witnessed it emailed a complaint to Mayor Brianne Zorn.

The California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) chose not to take take any action regarding Arone’s certification to continue working as a police officer as a result of the misconduct findings during the Amtrak and Velvet incidents.

A complete report by freelance reporter Tom Lochner on the circumstances surrounding the Amtrak incident and resulting investigation and lawsuit can be found at the bottom of this post.

Friday’s announcement was the first major release of information related to the officer-involved shooting at Velvet since September of 2023, when body camera and video surveillance footage of the incident were disclosed.

The security videos from the dispensary released then showed several suspects arriving in in a blue Infiniti and white Toyota C-HR, reportedly around 3:27 a.m. They are seen milling outside the dispensary for several minutes, some holding trash bags, and at one point the C-HR appears to be backing up toward the entrance of the dispensary.

When police arrived, the suspects jumped back into their vehicles and attempted to flee. The white C-HR quickly escaped down an embankment, but the Infiniti circled the parking lot and briefly appeared blocked by a police vehicle. In body cam footage, officers can be seen standing next to the driver’s side of the vehicle with their guns drawn, before the car briefly backs up to get around a police vehicle, then speeds off. The Infiniti appears to scrape an officer as it speeds away, then shots are fired by officers at the vehicle, which crashes into a fire hydrant.

A loaded Glock 10mm handgun was located in the front passenger’s area of the vehicle. Both vehicles involved in the incident were reported as stolen.

Bullet holes are seen in the blue Infiniti drive by Tahmon Wilson

The records released Friday also included transcripts of interviews conducted by the state DOJ with the the four officers involved in the shooting in which they explained their decision to open fire on the vehicle driven by Tahmon Wilson. The interviews were shared with the city as part of its administrative review of the events that night and the officers’ actions.

The officers described a chaotic scene in which they feared for their lives and believed that the Infiniti posed an immediate threat to them. Multiple officers also described seeing the passenger in the Infiniti holding a firearm and worrying that other officers who were on their way to the scene would be in danger as the Infiniti fled in their direction.

Tirona told investigators that his right leg was pinned by Wilson’s vehicle during the encounter, and he was treated at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center for a knee strain/contusion after the shooting. He said that he believed that Wilson had purposely tried to hit him with the vehicle.

“And so the thoughts in my head was I was extremely afraid because he just tried to kill me,” he said in the interview. “And he directed his car, uh, towards me purposely. Um, and I had other officers behind me in their direct path. And so I believed that he was a threat to their life.”

Tirona said he then heard gunshots that didn’t appear to come from his partner, Bennett, standing next to him. He then fired a volley of six rounds.

In his interview, Bennett described seeing what appeared to be the passenger of the Infiniti holding a black firearm as the car passed by him and Tirona. “I believe I called out gun, and at this point, I'm just — I'm ridiculously scared now 'cause one, the driver's — he's already being erratic and now this passenger. I didn't see a gun before, but now I do. So I'm worried he's got that gun out 'cause he's gonna use it on me and my — my other patrol officers.”

Bennett said he was concerned that the passenger holding a firearm might use it on other officers who were racing toward the scene. He then heard “a gunshot come from the vehicle or come from the direction of the vehicle, but — and then so at that point I genuinely believe they're shooting at me and my partners and I'm —I'm thinking I'm —I'm in a gunfight now.” At that point, Bennett said, he fired his weapon.

Kahue said he also saw a firearm in the Infiniti and that he “felt almost disoriented” after jumping out of the way of the vehicle. “I thought I was gonna die. I thought the car was gonna kill me,” he told investigators.

As the car passed him, Kahue told investigators, he opened fire on the driver because “the driver just used that vehicle as a weapon against my officer and myself.”

Mendez-Ceja, who was a trainee working with Kahue that night, said he also saw a passenger with a black semi-automatic firearm in the Infiniti, which he feared would strike him and his partner.

“I then froze up. I was, uh, I feared, I was so scared. The only thing I could think about was, that I was not going to make it home that night. And I felt bad, 'cause like, that was my first day at work.”

Mendez-Ceja said he then heard gunfire, which sounded like a gun battle between the passenger and his fellow officers, before discharging his own weapon, firing approximately nine rounds at the passenger.

To date, the investigation has not revealed whether any shots were fired at the police officers from the Infiniti.

Wilson’s family sued the city of Martinez and the four officers involved in the shooting in U.S. District Court in November, calling the event “a distressing example of a reckless and unjustified police shooting.” The lawsuit alleges that all 14 of the shots that hit the Infinity driven by Tahmon Wilson came from the side or rear of the vehicle.

The suit alleges that one or more of the officers’ bullets struck Tahmon Wilson in the back and head, and that Thomas Wilson required emergency surgery for the injuries he sustained after being shot in the back. The lawsuit also addresses the actions of Martinez officers after the shooting, saying that at least one officer “began physically manhandling Thomas despite the fact that Thomas was already gravely wounded from the gunshots and not resisting.”

“Fortunately, an officer intervened to stop the officer from beating Thomas,” the lawsuit reads.

In a response to the lawsuit filed by attorneys for the city and Officer Kahue in January demanding a jury trial, the attorneys alleged that “Tahmon Wilson willfully and wrongfully provoked the altercation” and “was a cause of the injuries and damages allegedly sustained.” It further alleges that Wilson “made an assault and battery against and upon the person of defendant Marc Kahue and other persons present.”

There were no security officers on site at the dispensary when the incident occurred, a violation of the city’s cannabis ordinance at the time, which required 24/7 on-site security. Despite the requirement being clearly spelled out in the ordinance, both of the city’s dispensaries were exempted from it by the police department’s then-leadership when their security plans were approved upon opening the businesses.

All of the records released by the department on Friday can be found at the following link: https://www.cityofmartinez.org/departments/police/transparency/public-records-sb-1421

What happened at Amtrak Station on April 1, 2023

By Tom Lochner

Witnesses' descriptions of the April 1, 2023, incident involving Martinez police Officer Giani Arone at the Amtrak Station differ in a number of details, but what is undisputed is that Arone initiated the physical contact — whether an actual beating, or just a show of force, or something in between.

On April 13, 2023, the Martinez PD retained Chaplin & Hill Investigative Services LLC to conduct an administrative investigation of the incident; by then, the Contra County District Attorney's Office had launched its own investigation, on April 6, 2023, but it ended up not filing a complaint with the court, spokesman Ted Asregadoo said in a Jan. 24 email, due to "insufficient evidence to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt." Martinez PD received Chaplin & Hill's report on Aug. 28, 2023.

The alleged victim, Todd Wilkins, was described by some witnesses as a homeless man. Arone described him as a "tweaker," slang for methamphetamine user. Wilkins, in statements to investigators, denied that he used drugs. Wilkins' address was a Santa Rosa homeless shelter, according to unspecified state records cited in an April 14, 2023, Historical Timeline Administrative Review by Martinez Police Commander Greg Hurlbut.

Several hours after the April 1, 2023 incident, which occurred around 6:45 p.m., Wilkins walked into the emergency room at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center complaining of pain and injury to his right rib area and right elbow, according to a summary by Chaplin & Hill. He was X-rayed, treated and discharged.

Wilkins went back into the ER around 7 a.m. the next day, April 2, 2023, where another X-ray revealed a fractured rib. Wilkins was also treated for alcohol withdrawal that morning, medical records show, although he told investigators he never has alcohol withdrawals and never does drugs, according to the summary.

Wikins took an Uber back to Santa Rosa later on April 2, 2023. The next day, April 3, 2023, he went to Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital to get checked for the pain to his rib and right elbow; there he told hospital staff that he got hit by a truck, according to the summary — not that he had had an altercation with a police officer. Wilkins had surgery that day, and spent a week in recovery.

He subsequently was admitted to the Nightingale Recuperation Center in Santa Rosa, where inspectors Eric Solzman and Adam Deplitch from the Contra Costa D.A.'s office interviewed him on April 25, 2023; the inspectors shared their information with Chaplin & Hill.

More than 250 pages of records, including interviews and some medical information, related to the investigation of the April 1, 2023, incident were viewed by Martinez News & Views. But more than 600 pages of medical records and other information were blackened out, presumably for confidentiality-related reasons.

On April 22, 2024, the Oakland-based civil rights law firm of John Burris sued the city on behalf of Wilkins in federal court, seeking damages in unspecified amounts.

As of late January, the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), which counts more than 600 participating law enforcement agencies in the state, had no record of employment of Arone since he left the Martinez PD just over a year ago.

The investigation

The investigation into the April 1, 2023 incident was triggered by an email the following day from a Martinez resident to Mayor Brianne Zorn and police Lt. Clarence Moore with the subject line: "Officer Arone Assaulted a homeless man unprovoked at the Amtrak station."

The resident, whose name has not been disclosed, was in the area the evening before with his wife and 10-year-old daughter to play mini-golf and go out to dinner. He was in the process of parking their car when they caught sight of an interaction between a police officer and what appeared to them to be a homeless man, at the base of the flagpole at the foot of Estudillo Street just outside the Amtrak station. The man later identified himself to the resident as Wilkins; his name was redacted in most of the records viewed by Martinez News & Views.

"As we turned down Estudillo street at 6:45 p.m., we witnessed officer Arone exit his vehicle and approach Mr. (Wilkins) who was sitting at the base of the flagpole by himself," the redacted email reads in part. "There was an exchange of words for about 15 seconds. Officer Arone shoved Mr. (Wilkins) backwards from his sitting position, jumped on top of him and placed his knee directly into his chest.

"We could hear Mr. (Wilkins) shouting 'I ain't done shit' repeatedly to which officer Arone responded by shoving Mr. (Wilkins') head into the ground repeatedly and what appeared to be throwing a few elbows and knee strikes while doing so."

The physical altercation lasted about 20 seconds, the email continues. "At no point in time during the physical altercation did Officer Arone attempt to subdue or otherwise restrain Mr. (Wilkins) and or place him into custody — he was attacking him. At no point did Mr. (Wilkins) attempt to fight back or defend himself other than covering his head in a fetal position."

The reporting party, it emerged during the investigation, had identified Arone through a photograph on the Martinez PD Facebook page, and had gotten Wilkins' name when he crossed paths with him a second time about 45 minutes later that evening.

On April 4, 2023, Zorn forwarded the email to Martinez Police Chief Andrew White. The Police Department's administrative investigation and hiring of Chaplin & Hill followed; by then, the D.A.'s investigation had begun. Between April 6 and April 25, 2023, Solzman and Deplitch, the inspectors from the D.A.'s office, interviewed Wilkins and five witnesses; Chaplin & Hill investigators Jay Hill and Dan DeSmidt interviewed Arone on June 7, 2023.

The five witnesses interviewed by Solzman and Deplitch, other than the alleged victim (Wilkins), are the reporting party, his wife and their daughter; and two Amtrak police officers, one of whom had contacted the Martinez PD for help to remove a homeless man from the station. Arone, on his way there, chanced upon Wilkins, whom he mistook for the homeless man the Amtrak officer had called about. The Amtrak officers' testimony does not address the Arone-Wilkins incident). Solzman and Deplitch shared their information with Chaplin & Hill.

On Oct. 17, 2023, White issued Arone a Notice of Intent to Impose Discipline: a 30-day suspension, along with a three-year prohibition from conducting training —Arone at the time was a field training officer, defensive tactics instructor and First Aid/CPR/AED (Automated External Defibrillator) instructor.

Arone exercised his right to a pre-disciplinary Skelly Conference, which took place on Nov. 27, 2023, with Arone appearing with an attorney. On Nov. 29, 2023, Arone agreed to a reduced suspension of 20 days, along with the three-year training and instruction prohibition. The policies that Arone was found to have violated relate to the use of force; reporting the use of force; notification to supervisors; disgraceful conduct; conduct unbecoming a member of the department; reporting of stops (of a person); and activation of body-worn cameras.

"You engaged in an unnecessary use of force towards Mr. (Wilkins) to make a point and let him know you weren’t 'kidding,'" the Notice of Discipline says in the section titled Level of Penalty. "You were not arresting him, so he was not resisting arrest. You did not engage in required de-escalation tactics. You used force to send a message. The use of force to send a message (you referred to the reasoning as “shock value”) is wholly inconsistent with department policy, law and training.

"You also used profanity towards him that was discourteous and unwarranted. You did not document or report your use of force, prepare a stop data report, and you failed to activate your BWC (body-worn camera). Your conduct reflected unfavorably on the Martinez Police Department, as it was seen by members of the public who reported it, as well as Mr. (Wilkins).

Arone had "no relevant prior discipline" according to the notice.

Witnesses’ description of the incident

On April 1, 2023, shortly after 6:30 p.m., Arone had been dispatched to the Amtrak station after a caller, identified as Amtrak Police Officer Horton, reported that a homeless Black male adult was refusing to leave the station (Arone apparently was not aware of the racial specification when he set out – Wilkins is White). On his way to the station, Arone saw a man, who turned out to be Wilkins, alongside a pile of belongings near the flagpole at the foot of Estudillo Street.

Words were exchanged, including some obscenities, on the part of both participants, according to witness descriptions,

As related by Inspectors Solzman and Deplitch, the reporting party "saw Officer Arone, for unknown reasons, push V-Wilkins to the ground who was still in a seated position. Officer Arone then began to 'attack' V-Wilkins' torso and upper chest area by striking this area with his knee and elbows and slamming his head into the ground." Arone struck Wilkins 10 to 15 times and slammed his head into the ground 10 to 15 times, the report continued.

The "assault," which the family saw from about 50 yards away according to the reporting party, lasted about 25 to 30 seconds, during which Wilkins said things like "Get off me," "What the fuck" and "What's going on?"

The reporting party's daughter told investigators: "Um, he (Arone) just full on attacked him, like, shoved his knee into his, like, chest. And the, um, homeless man, like, didn't attack back or anything."

His wife told investigators that as the family were pulling into the parking spot, the alleged victim "was sitting down at the flagpole and then the cop kind of walked up to him and was like, 'What did you just fucking say to me?' And then we were like, 'Oh, gosh, what's going on?' And so they kinda barked at each other for a second and then the cop just walked over and just kinda tackled him. And then put his knee into his chest and held him down for a minute and kinda threw a couple little elbows. And the guy was just like cowering….trying to cover his face.

"He was on him for probably 20 seconds, maybe 15."

She attempted to video-record the incident on her phone, but it was set on photo; she eventually activated video, but by then Arone, who had become aware of the trio's presence, was headed back to his car and quickly took off toward the nearby Amtrak station, she said. Video cameras mounted on the side of the Amtrak station building did not capture the incident.

According to the summary of the interview with Wilkins, on April 1, 2023, he took an Uber from Santa Rosa to the Martinez Amtrak station, from where he intended to take a train to Seattle to do some sightseeing for a few days. He arrived in Martinez around 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., took an Uber to Walmart to get supplies, and returned to the Amtrak station, where he hung out and walked around the surrounding area, including the Hot Dog Depot and the Marina Market to get a beer. He was near the station later in the day when he emptied his bag and was sorting through the contents when a police officer, later identified as Arone, pulled up in his patrol vehicle.

Arone got out and said to Wilkins something like, “Pick up your shit and get out of here.” Wilkins responded with something like, “Why are you such an asshole, prick or a jerk?” according to the summary.

"The police officer then put him on the ground," the summary reads in part. "The officer body slammed him or tackled him, making him fall to the ground on his back. He did not fight back at all. At that point, he 'whited out' and did not recall if he was struck or kicked or how he was further assaulted. He had pain to his right rib area and right arm."

Arone was interviewed on June 7, 2023 by investigators Jay Hill and Dan DeSmidt of Chaplin & Hill. Also present, representing Arone, was attorney Julia Fox of Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver, PC. Arone said his interaction with Wilkins, who he said was "pacing back and forth," started out as a pretty typical example of frequent encounters between police officers and "tweakers" that conclude with the latter obeying an officer's command to move along. But when Arone pulled up and, through the open car window, said something to Wilkins like, ''Hey dude, you got to go. They called in, you got to bounce," Wilkins responded with obscenities, according to a summary of the interview.

Noting that Wilkins “wasn’t going with the program," Arone got out of his car, whereupon he "noticed open alcohol containers and a meth pipe next to (Wilkins) and said he was 'clearly under the influence' of methamphetamine but believed he was also under the influence of alcohol as evidenced by the open containers and the smell of alcohol on (Wilkins') person.

"I mean, if you’ve seen a tweaker," Arone continued, "you know what I mean, where they’re flipping around, they’re talking to themselves, their heads doing weird shit. I mean, I can’t really put into words, you just know when you see a tweaker acting weird. Just jabbering to himself, jabbering to things and people that aren’t around him, walking in circles, fingers doing this, black fingertips."

As Arone turned to walk away, Wilkins said something to the effect of, "I'll beat your ass" or "I’ll beat your fucking ass," the interview summary continues.

There followed what other witnesses variously described as a tackle, attack or assault. Or, as Arone described it, "it wasn’t a slam. It was more of a, all right, now you’re going to listen to me." The message being: "That you can’t beat my ass." And that of any other officer.

"Yeah, that you’re not going to make threats against police officers for trying to give you a break or for anything. Even if I wasn’t going to give you a break, you’re not going to make threats against police officers. Making sure, say you’re going to beat up an officer for doing their job."

"Why didn’t you just walk away?" Hill asked. "Why don’t you just keep walking and let it go?"

Arone responded: "For fear that if somebody did contact him later on that night, now he feels he just made a threat to a police officer and that maybe inflated his ego or inflated his desire to, 'Oh, I’m untouchable now. Yeah, I punked that cop, I made them walk away. See, I could beat anybody’s ass.' And then later on that night, maybe somebody’s smaller, less capable of defending themselves, runs into him under the same circumstances says, 'Hey dude, you got to go.' And then again, he’s, 'I’m going to beat your ass, too.' And then that actually happened, and God forbid that officer wasn’t trained or strong enough to, because he’s not a small guy so maybe."

In the interview summary, Arone described himself as weighing 255 pounds – 280 or 300 with gear. According to a footnote, state Department of Motor Vehicles records and medical records from near the time of the incident list Wilkins at 5-feet-9 and 160 pounds.

Later in the interview, Arone alluded to the notion that it would be a burden on police resources if every such encounter were to involve a warrant check and other records check and possible arrest and booking on a variety of charges, plus other paperwork — thus the common practice of an officer simply getting the subject to move along, without activating the body-worn camera or otherwise documenting the encounter.

"If I want to go out and, while we're shorthanded, arrest every single guy that I see under the influence of something out there, I'm going to take away from being available for calls on my beat and being able to cover officers for something that's really a misdemeanor," Arone said.

Alleged victim goes to hospital

After the altercation, Wilkins went to Contra Costa County Regional Medical Center — but not right away.

In between, according to the interview summaries, about 45 minutes after the incident, the reporting party and his family had just left the mini golf venue when they saw Wilkins walking around the same area. The reporting party spoke briefly to Wilkins, who said he was going to the hospital. It was during that conversation that Wilkins told the reporting party his name.

Wilkins was also seen walking around downtown several more times that evening by Officer Arone as he patrolled the area, according to the interview summary. "On one of the occasions when he drove by, (Wilkins) 'glared' at Officer Arone and flipped him off."

Later in the evening, Arone was flagged down by a bouncer outside the Nu-Rays bar on Ferry Street, who told Arone something like, "Hey dude, we got this tweaker over here being weird. He was just asking for people's phones." As Arone got out of his car, he saw that the bouncer was talking about Wilkins, the summary continues.

The bouncer told Arone that Wilkins had borrowed a phone from a bar patron; that patron told Arone that Wilkins had said something about wanting to go to the hospital or wanting a ride there.

"Officer Arone approached (Wilkins) and asked him if he needed an ambulance or wanted to go to the hospital," according to the interview summary. (Wilkins) said something like 'Oh, fuck you' and gave the phone back and walked off."

When Arone took the phone, he realized he was talking to a dispatcher (unknown if police or fire). "Officer Arone identified himself to the dispatcher and said (Wilkins) was walking away and apparently didn't need medical aid."

Wilkins arrived at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center at 10:25 p.m. and was admitted at 11:02 p.m. According to heavily redacted Emergency Department notes, there were "No signs of acute distress. Pt refused vitals at discharge. Pt ambulated with steady gait out of ED."

He was discharged from the hospital shortly after midnight, but he stayed around and slept on a bench until morning, according to an interview summary. He went back into the hospital at about 7 a.m. to get checked again because he was still in pain, according to the summary. He was seen by another doctor, and underwent another X-ray, which showed that he had a fractured rib. He was also told to "watch" his elbow but was not told what was wrong with it, according to the summary.

"The medical records indicated that on his second visit to the (county hospital) he was treated for alcohol withdrawals," the summary continues. "(Wilkins) stated that he was treated for dehydration, but he never has alcohol withdrawals and that he never even drinks or does any drugs. Medical records also indicated that (Wilkins) had a history of alcohol abuse and has been treated for it also. V-(Wilkins) also stated to hospital staff that he drinks daily and uses marijuana.”

Wilkins left the hospital later that day and took an Uber back to Santa Rosa, the summary continues. The next day, April 3, 2023, he went to Providence Memorial Hospital in Santa Rosa to get checked out again for his right elbow and right rib pain, where he told hospital staff that he got hit by a truck – not that he had an altercation with a police officer. He had surgery that day, followed by a week of recovery, and subsequent transfer to Nightingale Recuperation Center, where inspectors Solzman and Deplitch interviewed him on April 25, 2023.

The lawsuit

The lawsuit was filed on April 24, 2024 against the city of Martinez and unspecified persons (DOES 1-25) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California by the firm of well-known Oakland-based civil rights attorney John Burris (Burris Nisenbaum Curry & Lacy). It alleges that on April 1, 2023, an unidentified Martinez police officer, "without cause or legal justification, began battering Wilkins, forcefully threw him to the floor, placed his knee on Wilkins's chest, and attempted to strike Wilkins, and ran off, leaving Wilkins to seek his own medical care, causing broken ribs, a broken elbow, torn intercostal muscles, a gluteal strain, and a lateral strain."

The elbow injury evolved into cellulitis, the suit continues, alarming doctors at Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital Emergency Center who deemed it "a threat to life or bodily functions" requiring Wilkins to undergo emergency surgery and spend a week in the hospital, followed by three weeks in recuperative care and six weeks of physical therapy.

The suit alleges violations of Wilkins' civil rights under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (Unlawful Seizure; Excessive Force; Denial of Medical Care); the First Amendment (Questioning Police Action); the California Bane Act (dealing with interference of state or federal rights by threat, intimidation or coercion); as well as Negligence; Assault; Battery; and False Imprisonment.

It seeks unspecified amounts of general, special, punitive, exemplary and any permissible statutory damages plus attorney's fees and other costs.

The city, in its answer, submitted on May 20, 2024 by attorneys Noah Blechman and Scott Thorne of McNamara, Ambacher, Wheeler, Hirsig & Gray LLP, denies the plaintiff's recitation of the facts, and "neither admits nor denies" several of the allegations because they include "contentions and legal matters not proper for admission or denial." It submits 22 separate and affirmative defenses and requests relief for the cost of the suit, including attorney's fees, and any further relief the court deems just and proper.

Burris, in a Feb. 17, 2025 email, said: "This matter is moving forward on the litigation track." Discovery is ongoing, Burris added, and he and his firm are moving toward disposition and identifying the extent of Wilkins' injuries. "Other than that, I have no other information that I can share."

Blechman, in a Feb. 21 email, said he could not comment on pending litigation.

He shared a document that had been filed the day before by the court (U.S. District Court, Northern District of California): a "Case-Management and Pretrial Order (Jury)" that followed a case management conference. It notes that the parties have agreed to engage in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) with a private mediator by May 22, 2025.

If the case ends up going to trial, that would happen in about a year and a half, starting on Aug. 17, 2026, and would be expected to last five days, according to the Feb. 20, 2025, Case-Management and Pretrial Order.

The case number is 24-cv-02389-LB.

Records related to the incident at the Amtrak station and the disciplinary action taking against Arone can be found at the following link: https://www.cityofmartinez.org/home/showpublisheddocument/4575