A Walnut Creek police officer pleaded no contest
A Walnut Creek police officer pleaded no contest in a Martinez courtroom this afternoon to charges that he donned a mask and beat a woman with a baseball bat in Richmond last month.
Gregory Thompson, a 54-year-old Martinez resident and 30-year Walnut Creek police veteran, entered the no contest pleas in Contra Costa County Superior Court to charges of felony assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, felony vandalism and being armed in the commission of the crimes.
Dressed in a suit and tie, Thompson appeared out of custody next to his attorney in court today, weeks after bailing out of county jail in Richmond following his Aug. 16 arrest.
Thompson refused to answer questions from reporters outside the courtroom this morning and left in a waiting car.
Deputy District Attorney Barry Grove said prosecutors will ask for a one-year county jail sentence for Thompson but that he could face up to five years in state prison. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 10.
Grove said Thompson went to his father’s vacant home on Clinton Avenue in Richmond in the early morning hours of Aug. 16, knowing that the house had been burglarized recently, according to Grove.
When he saw an unknown woman walking near the home, he believed she was an intruder, donned a ski mask and “he took the law into his own hands and beat her with a baseball bat,” Grove said.
The woman’s car had run out of gas and she was walking in the area when Thompson attacked, prosecutors said.
Richmond police received several reports around 2 a.m. on Aug. 16 of a woman screaming and a man with a bat in the 4000 block of Clinton Avenue.
As officers arrived on the scene, witnesses pointed out Thompson, who was sitting nearby in his parked car. He wasn’t wearing his police uniform or in a patrol car at the time, police said.
Officers approached the suspect and noticed a mask lying on the car’s floorboard. A search of the car turned up a baseball bat, two guns and zip ties, police said.
The victim, who had been hiding in the bushes until police arrived, was taken to a hospital for injuries suffered in the beating and is expected to recover.
Police last month were attempting to locate a second woman who was apparently wounded when she stepped in to try to stop the attack. An off-duty firefighter also witnessed part of the attack, according to Grove.
Thompson, who identified himself as a police officer, was arrested, taken to county jail and released on bail the following day.
Walnut Creek police have said Thompson was put on paid administrative leave soon after his arrest and that the department is conducting its own investigation.
He was working most recently as a patrol officer, according to Walnut Creek police Capt. Mark Perlite.
Walnut Creek police officials were not immediately available this afternoon to comment on Thompson’s employment status.
Gregory Thompson, a 54-year-old Martinez resident and 30-year Walnut Creek police veteran, entered the no contest pleas in Contra Costa County Superior Court to charges of felony assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, felony vandalism and being armed in the commission of the crimes.
Dressed in a suit and tie, Thompson appeared out of custody next to his attorney in court today, weeks after bailing out of county jail in Richmond following his Aug. 16 arrest.
Thompson refused to answer questions from reporters outside the courtroom this morning and left in a waiting car.
Deputy District Attorney Barry Grove said prosecutors will ask for a one-year county jail sentence for Thompson but that he could face up to five years in state prison. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 10.
Grove said Thompson went to his father’s vacant home on Clinton Avenue in Richmond in the early morning hours of Aug. 16, knowing that the house had been burglarized recently, according to Grove.
When he saw an unknown woman walking near the home, he believed she was an intruder, donned a ski mask and “he took the law into his own hands and beat her with a baseball bat,” Grove said.
The woman’s car had run out of gas and she was walking in the area when Thompson attacked, prosecutors said.
Richmond police received several reports around 2 a.m. on Aug. 16 of a woman screaming and a man with a bat in the 4000 block of Clinton Avenue.
As officers arrived on the scene, witnesses pointed out Thompson, who was sitting nearby in his parked car. He wasn’t wearing his police uniform or in a patrol car at the time, police said.
Officers approached the suspect and noticed a mask lying on the car’s floorboard. A search of the car turned up a baseball bat, two guns and zip ties, police said.
The victim, who had been hiding in the bushes until police arrived, was taken to a hospital for injuries suffered in the beating and is expected to recover.
Police last month were attempting to locate a second woman who was apparently wounded when she stepped in to try to stop the attack. An off-duty firefighter also witnessed part of the attack, according to Grove.
Thompson, who identified himself as a police officer, was arrested, taken to county jail and released on bail the following day.
Walnut Creek police have said Thompson was put on paid administrative leave soon after his arrest and that the department is conducting its own investigation.
He was working most recently as a patrol officer, according to Walnut Creek police Capt. Mark Perlite.
Walnut Creek police officials were not immediately available this afternoon to comment on Thompson’s employment status.
