10 current, former Norcal police officers charged

Federal accusations of fraud, rights violations

SAN FRANCISCO — Authorities have charged 10 current or former police officers at two Northern California departments in a federal corruption investigation, they said Thursday as they outlined a range of allegations from engaging in fraud aimed at boosting pay to violating residents’ civil rights.

Ismail J. Ramsey, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, announced the charges against current or former officers of the police departments in Antioch and Pittsburg, two San Francisco Bay Area cities.

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.

“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.

Tripp said the arrests were the result of a two-year investigation. Authorities said early in the news conference that nine were charged, but later confirmed there were 10.

Charges against Morteza Amiri, Eric Allen 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,” authorities said.

The charges against the three include one count of conspiracy against rights and multiple counts of deprivation of rights under color of law. Amiri also faces one count of destruction, alteration or falsification of records in a federal investigation.

The indictment references racist text messages sent by the officers as well as details of times they used excessive force against suspects and later falsified reports about the encounters.

“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.”

Six officers, including Amiri, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud surrounding allegations they pretended to take college courses that could help boost their pay. The officers who face those charges were from both departments.

Two Antioch officers were charged with several counts related to distributing anabolic steroids. Another Antioch officer faces charges related to the obstruction of the federal investigation.