2 excops accused of extorting motorists
Officers seized drugs, cash in traffic stops, officials say
Two former Rohnert Park police officers are facing extortion charges for allegedly pulling over drivers on Highway 101 and taking their drugs and money under threat of arrest, authorities said Friday.
Brendon Jacy Tatum and Joseph Huffaker were part of a team of police officers assigned to seize illegal drugs from motorists between Cloverdale and Rohnert Park between 2015 and 2017. But officials said the two took drugs and money from motorists they pulled over by threatening to arrest them if they did not consent. Then, officials said, they did not report the stops or submit the drugs and money as evidence.
“I know there are allegations that he forced people to give him drugs and money, and he denies it.”
Stuart Hanlon, attorney for Brendon Jacy Tatum
The stops, however, were captured on video by their body cameras, authorities said.
The criminal complaint unsealed Friday alleges that Tatum extorted $3,700 in cash and significant amounts of marijuana.
Federal prosecutors said the pair continued to stop motorists even after the drugseizure program ended when California legalized recreational use of marijuana in November 2016. On Dec. 5, 2017, the two officers took marijuana from a driver they pulled over on Highway 101 after claiming they were federal agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, prosecutors said.
On Dec. 18, 2017, Tatum and an unnamed officer identified themselves as ATF agents and took a driver’s 23 pounds of marijuana, officials said.
In February 2018, news reports surfaced saying the FBI was interviewing victims who were robbed on Highway 101 by law enforcement officers on Dec. 5. Prosecutors said Tatum responded to the news reports by drafting a press release claiming the Dec. 5 stop was legitimate. They say he then tried to conceal the crime by filing a false police report about the Dec. 5 stop.
Prosecutors said that during the time Tatum was allegedly extorting marijuana from motorists, he deposited more than $400,000 into his and his wife’s bank accounts
— all in amounts under $10,000 in what officials said was an attempt to avoid scrutiny. Additionally, prosecutors said, Tatum purchased a $46,000 fishing boat with cash that did not come from a bank account. Officials said he did not report any of these assets on his tax returns.
Tatum and Huffaker, who made their first court appearance Friday, were charged with conspiracy to commit extortion under color of authority, and Tatum was charged with falsifying records in a federal investigation and tax evasion. Each defendant faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Both defendants resigned from their police jobs. Tatum resigned in 2018, and the city paid Huffaker a $75,000 settlement to resign in 2019 after Huffaker fought the city’s attempts to terminate him. Huffaker claimed he did nothing wrong, city records show, and said he would appeal any disciplinary action against him.
Stuart Hanlon, Tatum’s attorney, told The Chronicle that his client maintains his innocence and that Tatum has been a “wellrespected officer for many years.”
“He made a lot of arrests that were good, and seized a lot of drugs,” Hanlon said. “I know there are allegations that he forced people to give him drugs and money, and he denies it, so we’ll go forward.”
Rohnert Park city officials said they cooperated fully with the federal investigation.
“The City of Rohnert Park does not tolerate corrupt and unethical practices within the ranks of its employees, particularly its sworn peace officers and those officers involved in today’s charges are no longer employed by the City,” city officials said in a statement Friday.