By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-09-23 15:29:38 | Updated at 2024-09-30 13:20:22
6 days ago
The leafy East Bay city of Antioch is in the grip of a spiraling gang war after police numbers collapsed under the Democrat run council and its 'equity conscious' mayor.
Crime was already spiking on every major metric before a weekend of unprecedented gun violence left one man dead, emptied the city center and left business owners fearing for their future.
Police numbers have plunged from 115 to 76 in the last four years under the tenure of Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe who was elected in the teeth of opposition from the local police Officers' Association.
And the city has become a magnet for 'Chinese criminal syndicates' supplying drugs to the rest of the state with more than 60 illegal marijuana dens uncovered in the last two years.
'Now Antioch is old Oakland,' said local bar owner Tony Loinab. 'In one week over 200 shots in Antioch, how many people got shot? Three or four? In one week, not in one year, one week!'
Progressive Antioch city mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe has admitted his city in California's sought after East Bay area is now in the grip of gang warfare
Businesses were clearing up on Sunday morning after 'multiple people' were shot when bullets were sprayed over a Rite Aid parking lot on E 18th Street
The city nestled between national parks on the banks of the San Joaquin has long been a desirable refuge for those escaping the chaos of the West Coast with median house prices double the national average at $588,000.
But the latest wave of violence has sparked fury with the city authorities for allowing gang warfare to take hold.
It appears to have started with the murder of 21-year-old Elijah Scales on September 3 near Sycamore on the west of the city.
A man died and an 18-year-old was critically injured at 12.30pm on Friday on Cavalla Road and Sunset Drive after eight shootings in five days.
And 'multiple people' were shot police revealed as bullets sprayed across the Rite Aid parking lot on E 18th Street on Sunday morning.
'I was working with one of my employees and we heard a gunshot,' Loinab told Kron4.com.
'I didn't think it was a gunshot, but then it was like boom, boom like six shots.
'I look and I see police officers, ambulance, fire trucks. I walked over there. Apparently, a lady got shot and a young gentleman.'
Mayor Hernandez-Thorpe admitted his city is now suffering an 'unprecedented level of gun violence' and that it is 'retaliatory in nature'.
'These gangs have no regard for human life, they have no regard for law enforcement, they have no regard for you or me,' he said.
Local bar owner Tony Loinab fears the city has become the new Oakland
Homeless encampments have returned to the city after a clear-out under the previous mayor
Crime was already spiking on every major metric before a weekend of unprecedented violence
An April drugs bust at a fancy five-bedroom, two-story Antioch home uncovered hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of illegal cannabis in the one residence alone (pictured)
But critics have blamed him for the hollowing out of the police department which has left officers struggling to cope as crime soars across the board.
The 43-year-old, who holds a masters degree in Women's Studies, bills himself as a 'motivational Speaker' and 'Equity Concious Leader' (sic) on his LinkedIn page.
Bullet holes riddled the shop fronts in E 18th Street on Sunday morning
He has insisted he is trying to recruit more officers, offering a $30,000 signing-on bonus to new starters.
But he was slammed as 'the leader in the effort to defund the Antioch Police, which would be devastating to our effort to fight crime in our community', by Antioch Police Officers' Association ahead of his election in 2020.
'Mr Thorpe's vision for the future of Antioch will increase crime, increase our homeless population and lead to further blight in our city,' they wrote.
Homeless encampments have returned to the city after a clear-out under the previous mayor in 2018, and murders were up by a third in the first six months of the year compared with the same period last year.
Robberies were up 12 percent, larcenies were up 40 percent, and vehicle thefts were up 65 percent.
At a time of falling crime rates nationwide, rises were also recorded in burglaries, vandalism, and assault.
'Who in their right mind would want to work for a police department under the sitting mayor and majority city council?' demanded local blogger Mike Burkholder of Contracosta.news. 'Not many and it shows.
'And people really wonder why crime is up and the city as a whole has four times the amount of vacancies as the national average?
Sandwiched between the San Joaquin River and a trio of stunning national parks, the California city of Antioch (pictured from above) seems like peaceful part of the state's East Bay region
'The majority council has sabotaged its police department through de-fund the police tactics which has only hurt residents, businesses and even the school district.
'It simply comes back to the city council who have created the tone of the city, and an anti-police rhetoric culture.
'People want stability, not a circus where anything can happen at any given time.'
Meanwhile residents clearing up after the latest shootings said they fear the city is going in the same direction as its crime ridden neighbors Oakland and San Francisco.
'I mean look at this,' said Loinab, looking around his empty bar on Sunday.
'It's Sunday football. Raiders playing, Niners playing. I have six customers. This bar should be packed. 'And people are afraid honestly. We put our hard-earned money in. We don't get any appreciation, no help whatsoever.'
