Nate Gartrell
Bay Area News Group
ANTIOCH — Contra Costa prosecutors have dismissed a misdemeanor charge against Antioch City Councilwoman Tamisha Torres-Walker, who was accused of obstructing or resisting a city police officer who was responding to a shooting call in her neighborhood last October, court records show.
The Contra Costa District Attorney’s office would not comment on the reason for the dismissal, nor whether it was related to an ongoing FBI-led criminal investigation into several Antioch officers suspected of civil rights violations and other crimes. Torres-Walker, who represents District 1, said in an interview with this news organization that she and her family are “ready to move on” but that the dismissal affirms her contention that she and her children were “targeted” by Antioch police.
Torres-Walker, who was elected in November 2020 to a two-year term, has butted heads with the police department since late 2020, after officers intercepted her two sons, aged 23 and 13 at the time, for riding off-road vehicles illegally on a city street. She responded with a Facebook Live video accusing police of intimidation tactics and biases.
Court records show that on July 11, a misdemeanor evading police charge was dropped against Torres-Walker’s adult son. She said the juvenile court system has also dismissed charges against her teenaged son in connection with the same incident. She added she would soon provide an update about her next response to the dismissal, and confirmed she is contemplating civil action.
“I will be honest that in hindsight, could I have approached the situation differently? Absolutely. In the moment, my orientation was to protect my children and my family in both instances, and I made it very clear the trust level wasn’t there,” Torres-Walker said. She later added, “My entire family could have avoided all of these incidents with these particular officers if folks in leadership roles in this city had done something about accountability and transparency when they were in leadership or in office.”
Torres-Walker was charged last November, a month after police responded to a shots fired call in her neighborhood. Police said at the time there was a loud party at her house and that shell casings were discovered nearby. Torres-Walker denied there was a shooting at her home, and called it the latest example of police harassment she’d experienced since taking office.
Without elaborate, Torres-Walker said she believes the dismissal is tied in with the ongoing criminal probe targeting at least 11 officers at Antioch and Pittsburg. Authorities have said the investigation involves allegations that officers committed various “crimes of moral turpitude,” including civil rights violations, and led to the dismissal of dozens of criminal charges in state and federal court.
©2022 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at mercurynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
