Antioch officer under scrutiny for punching woman during scuffle

ANTIOCH — A use-of-force review is underway in Antioch after an officer punched a woman who reportedly bit him during a homeless encampment cleanup last week, police said.

The incident happened July 1 at Waldie Plaza, located at 206 G St., Antioch police Lt. Gary Lowther said in a news release.

Lowther said officers were at the plaza to provide security and support to city code enforcement personnel and a contracted cleanup crew. At the same time, BNSF Railway was cleaning up a separate homeless encampment on its adjacent railroad right-of-way.

Several people moved from the BNSF property to Waldie Plaza during the cleanup, Lowther said, adding that they included a 41-year-old woman, who confronted the contracted cleanup crew.

Lowther said officers intervened and gave the woman repeated verbal commands to move away from the crew so the cleanup could safely continue, but she did not comply.

As officers arrested the woman for interfering with their duties, she bit one of them on the shoulder, Lowther said.

“The officer responded with a physical strike to stop the assault and placed her under arrest,” he said.

Video of the incident shows two officers struggling with the woman, with one of them punching her in the face.

“He socked me directly me in my temple,” the woman, identified as Frenchie Hardy, told NBC Bay Area. “I went to jail with a black eye. I still have a blood clot.”

Hardy said she had been arguing with officers over being given just five minutes to clear out belongings from the park, the news station reported.

“He grabbed me and pulled my arm back,” she said. “I felt some pop in my arm, and I bit him. He punched me in the face.”

The woman was arrested on suspicion of resisting, delaying or obstructing a law enforcement officer and resisting a law enforcement officer with violence, Lowther said. She was later booked into Contra Costa County jail.

Lowther said the police department’s U.S. Department of Justice consultant and Internal Affairs Division have been advised of the use-of-force incident. The department also plans to report the incident to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office, as well as assign an independent investigator to review the incident.

The officer will be placed on paid administrative leave, Lowther said. He has not been identified.

“Any use of force by our officers is taken seriously,” Antioch police Chief Joe Vigil said in a statement Tuesday. “This incident will be fully reviewed under our use of force policy, state law, and our department’s current independent oversight framework.”

Anyone with information related to the case can contact the police department at 925-778-2441.

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