DA won’t press charges against ex-councilman

Wilson Riles Jr. was arrested after dispute with building inspectors at City Hall

OAKLAND » The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office will not file any charges against former Oakland City Councilman Wilson Riles Jr., who was taken down by police and arrested Oct. 17 after a getting into a heated dispute with officials at the city’s Planning and Zoning office over his backyard sweat lodge.

Riles, 73 and a member of the City Council from 1979 to 1992, was arrested and booked into jail on suspicion of battery of an officer and obstructing an officer. Riles said he was simply trying to leave the Planning and Zoning office when police arrived. As he tried to walk around them, he said, they tripped him and forced him down to the ground.

In an interview Thursday, Riles said Oakland Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick called him Monday to tell him she had asked the District Attorney’s Office not to file charges but didn’t say why. Kirkpatrick also has called for an investigation of the confrontation, he said.

Alameda County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Teresa Drenick confirmed Thursday morning that the office had “reviewed the matter thoroughly” and will not file charges.

Riles said he is pleased with the decision but isn’t going to let the matter go. He and his attorney are discussing taking legal action against the city and he intended to attend Thursday night’s Police Commission meeting to ask it to investigate the officers for potentially using excessive force and violating his rights.

Riles said meanwhile he’s out $1,400 after paying a bondsman to post his $20,000 bail.

The dispute preceding Riles’ arrest involved permit requirements for his backyard sweat lodge — complete with three yurts — which he has been operating at least four years. Some of his neighbors have asked the city to shut down the sweat lodge, complaining about the smoke emanating from it as well as noise and parking problems during events held there.

Although the project was approved by the

Planning Commission in 2018, a building inspector went to Riles’ home earlier this month to tell him he needed permits for the sweat lodge and yurts.

Riles disagreed, saying his interpretation of the city’s building codes is the lodge and yurts are “temporary structures” that don’t require permits.

When he went to the Planning and Zoning office to discuss the issue again, Riles said he felt the building inspectors were brushing him off so he became angry. At one point he followed a building inspector into the staff- only area of the office, demanding to speak to a supervisor.

Unbeknownst to Riles, while he was in the staff area, someone dialed 911 to report a “hostile individual” in there. Riles said he believes the 911 calls were racially motivated.

After Riles spoke with a supervisor in the office, he decided to leave and was met by the police as he was walking out of City Hall.

Riles claims the officers blocked him from leaving and at one point grabbed him, tried to twist his arms behind him and threw him to the floor. Police told dispatchers Riles was resisting being handcuffed.