Brentwood Police Officer body camera video shows injuries robbery suspect Talmika Bates sustained to her head from the police dog attack on Feb. 10, 2020. Screenshot of video posted by KTVU.
Claim news reports “demonize the police and fan the flames of racial discord”
City states “use of force committee…found the use of force to be within policy and law under the circumstances”
By Allen D. Payton
The Brentwood Police Officers’ Association issued the following press release on February 24, 2022, in response to media reports of recently released police body cam footage of a Feb. 10, 2020, incident with a robbery suspect involving a police dog attacking her, and the lawsuit she filed. (See unedited police body cam video. Warning: graphic images)
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Local Bay Area media outlets KRON and KTVU began reporting on a civil lawsuit filed against one of our members, Officer Ryan Rezentes. National media outlets have also begun reporting on the story. As has become commonplace in recent years, those media outlets abdicated their responsibility to inform the public on the facts of an incident, and instead have chosen to demonize the police and fan the flames of racial discord. Contrary to what was reported by the media, this was not just “a shoplifting incident” and the use of a police K9 had nothing to do with the race of the suspects.
The lawsuit stems from a crime which was committed on February 10, 2020. The plaintiff, Talmika Bates, who was 24 years old at the time, along with two of her associates reportedly stole over $10,000 worth of merchandise from a store and then fled in a vehicle. As another Brentwood PD officer was responding to the reported crime, he observed the suspect vehicle at a nearby major intersection and it appeared the vehicle was attempting to cross the busy intersection against the red light. That officer positioned his police car in front of the suspect vehicle so that he could protect the other motorists and prevent any further flight. Instead of stopping, the suspect vehicle rammed the front end of the police car in order to escape, and then fled at high speeds. The suspects’ actions not only endangered the police officer who was rammed, but also endangered numerous other citizens on the roadway.
Bates and her associates continued fleeing in their vehicle until they collided with a curb and disabled their vehicle, at which time all of the suspects, including Bates, fled the vehicle on foot. Numerous officers, including Officer Rezentes with K9 Marco, along with a police helicopter, responded to the scene to assist with a search for the suspects. One of the areas being searched was a field with large swaths of nearly impenetrable shrubbery and trees. These types of areas are especially dangerous for police officers to search, due to the fact that potentially armed suspects can easily conceal themselves inside the overgrown vegetation, and officers may not see the suspect until they are right upon them. This is one of numerous scenarios where utilizing a police dog helps keep our officers safe.
After nearly an hour of searching, during which time even the helicopter was unable to find the suspects, Officer Rezentes ordered K9 Marco to search the large patch of overgrown vegetation and the dog located Bates inside. Police dogs are trained to bite the first part of the suspect’s body they come in contact with, which in Bates’ case was the top of her head. When it became apparent that K9 Marco had located one of the suspects concealed in the vegetation, Officer Rezentes and the other officers ordered Bates to come out. This is standard safe practice, because the officers were still unable to see Bates and they could not determine if she was armed. Once Bates was taken into custody, she was immediately provided with medical aid for her injuries.
The Brentwood Police Officers’ Association believes it is important that the public have this context regarding Officer Rezentes’ actions and the use of K9 Marco. All of the details we have provided here, and many more, were available within public records. It appears these media outlets chose to not seek out this information, and they attempt to defend their actions by stating they sought comment from the City of Brentwood and the Brentwood Police Department, knowing full well that neither of those entities are going to provide comment on an incident that has pending litigation. The media is well-versed in making public records requests, and know they could have obtained the court records from Bates’ criminal case. Since these specific media outlets did not do so, we can only conclude that is because they had no desire to provide the context which we have provided here, and that they would rather attempt to sow division between the police and the community.
The Brentwood Police Officers’ Association will not make any further comment regarding the specifics of this incident. We are grateful for the support of our community as our officers do their best to protect everyone’s safety.
Brentwood PD Press Release of Incident
On February 10, 2020 at 11:45 AM, officers were dispatched to Ulta Beauty Supply (in the Streets of Brentwood Shopping Center) to investigate a theft. Keilaysha Usher (24-year-old female, Oakland) Talmika Bates (24-year-old female, Hayward) and Ramiah Armstrong (22-year-old female, Richmond) left the store with about $10,000 worth of merchandise and fled in a Nissan Murano toward Lone Tree Way.
A responding Brentwood Police Officer located the vehicle at the intersection of Shady Willow Lane and Lone Tree Way and attempted a traffic enforcement stop. The driver of the Nissan collided with the patrol car and fled. The vehicle was located in a field at the north end of Slatten Ranch Road where the occupants fled on foot into a nearby neighborhood. A perimeter was set up by Brentwood, Antioch and Oakley Police units until all three females were located and taken into custody.
An additional subject, Adrian Benton Jr. (21-year-old male, Richmond) appeared in the area to pick up the females and help them flee the area. He was also taken into custody without incident.
All four subjects are being booked into Martinez Detention Facility.
This case is currently under investigation. Anyone with additional information is encouraged to call Brentwood PD dispatch at 925-809-7911.
Questions for Brentwood PD
The following questions were sent to the Brentwood PD on Tuesday morning, March 1.
“Are police dogs trained to attack and bite any parts of a suspect’s body including their head, face and torso, or just their arms and legs to get them to stop running and/or resisting arrest?
At what point is a K9 Officer supposed to call off and restrain the dog from further attack of a suspect, if they’re no longer running and seated, as Ms. Bates is seen in the video, as the dog continued to attack her?
Why didn’t the officer taze Ms. Bates to get her to comply and emerge from the bushes, and restrain the dog once she was no longer running and seated?”
Brentwood Statement in Response to Media Requests Regarding Bates Lawsuit
In response, the following statement was provided by Assistant City Manager Darin Gale.
“Due to ongoing civil litigation the City of Brentwood including the Brentwood Police Department will not comment on the specific details and personnel matters requested by the media concerning this incident.
We can share that this incident was reviewed by the Brentwood Police Department use of force committee which found the use of force to be within policy and law under the circumstances which involved a high-speed chase and a collision with a Brentwood police vehicle.”
A Public Records Act request has been made for “any and all documents, video, etc. regarding the police incident on Feb. 10, 2020, including K9 unit with suspect Talmika Bates and the other suspects mentioned in the press release, including the response to her lawsuit.”
Please check back later for their responses and any other updates.
Thank you Brentwood PD and canine officer for the excellent way you handled this robbery. I hope this will help lessen these types of snatch and grab situations. We appreciate all you do to keep us safe.
Retired Oakland PD John Taylor and Helen Taylor
So…..:::this person admits theft at ULTA and then try’s to hide from police??????HELLO LADY! U got what U deserved! How dare U think U should file a lawsuit? This should be thrown out of court! Maybe next time U will think not to steal!
Not sure what can possibly be done to have these criminals figure out that running and resisting are the dumbest risk they can take. Unless they are naked, feet apart, arms held high, fingers spread, it is IMPOSSIBLE to tell you are not armed. This woman brought this on herself.
There have been increasing thefts and robbery in our stores, our pharmacies and family owned businesses in our city. I am glad our Brentwood police officer and his K-9 were doing their job. If those criminals were following the law, they would not be in that position. Have they even been punished for the crime they have committed? How about the employees of ULTA? If her case against the police, his K9 and the city is even entertained, much less win the case, that will just encourage more criminals. I really hope she and her cohorts did not just get a slap on the hands. Community service like cleaning up our streets and helping fix the damages they have done is a great alternative. Most of these criminals hate actual hardwork.
Who gives the right for anyone to shoplift, hopefully these young people learned a very important message. Tho Shall Not Steal, GET A JOB, this is not racial these punks had it all planned, I have seen it first hand, there is no shame to there game, embarrassing to try to Sue, when your the blame, through those high speed chase they would of killed or hurt innocent people, it’s to bad that MARCO the K-9 HERO did not rip both of her hands off for STEALING, just saying n I’m sure it’s agreeable, dummies