Ex-Antioch Officer Testifies Against Former Partner in Federal Civil Rights Case

Eric Rombough, a former Antioch police officer who pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy, appeared in court on Wednesday to testify against Morteza Amiri, a former APD officer he allegedly conspired with to brutalize residents and suspects.

Federal prosecutors accused Rombough, Amiri and former officer Devon Christopher Wenger of taking part in a three-year conspiracy to violate the civil rights of Antioch residents through their application of excessive force.

While on the stand, Rombough testified that he and Amiri encouraged each other to violently punish suspects, often with the unlawful use of Amiri’s police K9 and Rombough’s 40-millimeter impact round launcher, which fires a hard foam projectile.

After being called to the stand by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Cheng, Rombough described his interactions with Amiri, who he referred to as a close friend and coworker. Both he and Amiri were “proactive” officers, Rombough said, noting that they often went out of their way to search for suspects and to get guns off the streets of Antioch. They both wanted to make the city safer, he said.

Rombough’s attitude toward policing changed as he noticed that more of the suspects he apprehended were released without a conviction, he said. Amiri shared the same frustrations, Rombough told the court.

“I started with good intentions, but being surrounded by horrible things on a daily basis corrupts your brain,” Rombough said. “I feel a huge sense of shame.”

Rombough also confessed to exchanging racist text messages with Amiri, which he said reflected his changing attitudes toward the people of Antioch. In several of the messages exchanged between Rombough and Amiri that Cheng shared with the jury, the officers repeatedly referred to Black suspects as “gorillas” and made racist jokes about the people they injured.

When Cheng asked if these racist and derogatory attitudes affected the way Rombough chose to exercise force, he said they likely did.

“I lost respect for their civil rights and for the meaning behind what I was doing,” Rombough said.

Amiri, Rombough and Wenger were among at least 14 Antioch officers and supervisors who were found to have exchanged such messages, according to a report by the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office. A separate FBI investigation into allegations of excessive use of force and corruption in the Antioch Police Department led to the arrest of nine officers across two law enforcement departments in 2023.

During his examination on the stand, Rombough described several instances in which he used his 40-millimeter launcher on suspects. In cases when his weapon was deployed unnecessarily, he said supervisors who helped him write his use-of-force reports would sometimes encourage him to include exaggerated or false details to justify the use of his weapon, he said.

Rombough, who prosecutors said during trial on Monday would collect spent impact round shells to place on his fireplace mantle, said he and Amiri would congratulate each other after the fact.

The two would send photos of victims’ injuries to one another and mock other officers who refrained from using excessive force in their arrests. Amiri would also promise to get food for officers who gave him the opportunity to deploy his K9 Purcy, Rombough said.

“Anyone that helps me get a bite will get a filet mignon dinner,” Amiri texted in a group chat with other officers.

The major corruption case against Amiri and Wenger was brought to trial earlier this week. By Wednesday, however, Judge Jeffrey S. White declared a mistrial against Wenger after Wenger’s attorney, Nicole Castronovo, complained to the court that she had insufficient support from her firm. Rombough, who was also charged alongside the two defendants, pled guilty in January and agreed to testify for the prosecution.