Last year, while former Rohnert Park Sgt. Brendan Jacy Tatum awaited sentencing on federal charges related to a years-long conspiracy to illegally seize cannabis and cash from motorists, including ones traveling to and from Humboldt County, Sonoma County code inspectors discovered a large, unlicensed indoor cannabis grow at his property, according to records recently obtained […]
Sukey Lewis KQED News
Posted inNews
Ex-Rohnert Park Cop Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy
The former head of the Rohnert Park Public Safety Department’s drug interdiction team pleaded guilty Dec. 1 to federal charges of conspiracy to commit extortion under “color of law,” falsifying records in a federal investigation and tax evasion. Ex-Sgt. Brendan “Jacy” Tatum and his former partner, Joseph Huffaker, were both indicted by a federal grand […]
Posted inNews
Ex-Rohnert Park Cop Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Extortion
The former head of the Rohnert Park Public Safety Department’s drug interdiction team pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges of conspiracy to commit extortion under “color of law,” falsifying records in a federal investigation and tax evasion. Ex-Sgt. Brendan “Jacy” Tatum and his former partner, Joseph Huffaker, were both indicted by a federal grand jury […]
Posted inNews
Records Missing for at Least 800 Pounds of Marijuana Seized by Rohnert Park Police
Documentation for the destruction of about 800 pounds of marijuana seized by Rohnert Park public safety officers in recent years is missing from court files, KQED has found, despite the officers writing in police reports that the court ordered the evidence destroyed. Rohnert Park has released 40 police reports involving traffic stops by former police […]
Posted inNews
‘Highway Robbery:’ Drivers Allege Rohnert Park Police Illegally Seized Cannabis, Cash
Huedell Freeman was heading south on U.S. Highway 101 through Cloverdale and was just over the Sonoma County line when he said a police squad car flipped a U-turn across a 25-foot grass median and pulled up behind him with lights flashing. Freeman said he was carrying 47 pounds of marijuana in his rental car […]
Posted inNews
‘Highway Robbery’: Drivers Allege Rohnert Park Police Illegally Seized Cannabis, Cash
This story was reported in collaboration with the North Coast Journal and independent reporter Kym Kemp. Huedell Freeman was heading south on Highway 101 through Cloverdale and was just over the Sonoma County line when he said a police squad car flipped a U-Turn across a 25-foot grass median and pulled up behind him with […]