ANTIOCH, Calif. — A gang unit detective sent racist and homophobic text messages to fellow officers and boasted about shooting Black men with rubber bullets and kicking one man’s head like a “field goal,” according to a trove of new text messages obtained by this news organization.
Officer Eric Rombough also shared pictures of two men bruised in hospital beds after violent arrests — including one he was thankful happened “in a backyard with no cameras lol,” the texts show.
The text messages obtained Thursday, whose existence became known last month as part of a wide-ranging FBI and District Attorney’s investigation into East Bay officers — including Rombaugh — adds volumes to an already damning public portrayal of Antioch’s police department, where about 20% of the force is now suspended.
