Overview
- A witness video from a July 1 encampment cleanup at Waldie Plaza shows officers wrestling with 41-year-old Ja’Marlette Hardy, who bites an officer and is then struck once in the face by an officer trying to restrain her.
- The officer seen in the footage has been put on paid administrative leave while the department says the use of force will be reviewed under its policy and state law.
- Hardy was booked on charges for resisting or obstructing a peace officer and resisting with violence, and she says she bit the officer in self-defense and now suffers physical and mental symptoms from the encounter.
- The department referred the case to its Internal Affairs Division, the Contra Costa County district attorney, a Department of Justice consultant, and an independent investigator, a move that deepens public scrutiny given recent federal prosecutions and a large wrongful-death settlement involving Antioch officers.
- Investigations could produce parallel outcomes—administrative discipline, policy changes, or criminal charges—and the case is likely to shape local debate over how the city clears homeless encampments and how police handle people experiencing homelessness.