SFPD says officer charged with theft, forgery and fraud

A San Francisco Police Department officer was arrested and booked on multiple charges of grand theft, insurance fraud, identity theft and forgery last week, the department announced Monday.

Officer Adam Eatia, a 15-year veteran of the department, surrendered to authorities on June 24 after a warrant was issued for his arrest. Eatia is the fourth SFPD officer who has been arrested this year.

According to SFPD, Eatia committed theft by false pretense involving a car accident when he allegedly made fraudulent complaints that the damaged vehicle was not insured, SFPD said. Eatia allegedly took money from the victim “as compensation for the damage” while he was off duty, they added in a statement.

Eatia also allegedly made fraudulent claims to his insurance company about the vehicle and impersonated an SFPD sergeant on his application for insurance, the department said.

“The actions of this SFPD member violate the law and regrettably fall far short of our department’s shared values,” said San Francisco Police Chief William Scott, who made the exact same statement when three other police officers were arrested in April.

According to SFPD, investigators were notified of the incident in August 2019, and in September of 2021, Eatia was transferred to an assignment with “nonpublic contact.”

It was unclear whether he would face disciplinary consequences at SFPD.

In April, two current SFPD officers and one retired officer were arrested and accused of felony-level crimes that included illegal posession of a machine gun and destroying evidence, The Chronicle reported.

Retired SFPD officer Mark Williams was arrested after allegedly being found with a firearm that was missing from evidence; he was also charged with possession of a machine gun, possession of a silencer and embezzlement, all felonies.

In a separate incident, officers Kevin Lyons and Kevin Sien were arrested for allegedly destroying or concealing evidence.

Officials told The Chronicle that after a San Francisco hotel reported finding luggage that contained multiple credit cards, IDs and suspected methamphetamine, Lyons and Sien told employees it would take too long to file the evidence and instead shredded the cards and flushed the drugs down the toilet.

Lyons, a 21-year SFPD veteran, and Sien, a five-year veteran, were both transferred to assignments that “don’t involve contact with the public,” according to officials, who declined to say whether the pair would face internal disciplinary actions.