A Walnut Creek police officer remains on paid administrative leave this week after allegedly assaulting a woman with a bat in Richmond Aug. 16. Officer Gregory Thompson, 53, of Martinez, was arrested in Richmond after witnesses called police to report a masked man assaulting a woman there.
Thompson, a 30-year Walnut Creek police veteran who identified himself as a police officer as Richmond police arrived on the scene, was off duty when he was arrested and booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threats and felony vandalism. Richmond police allegedly found a mask, two handguns, the bat and plastic “flex cuffs” in his car. Thompson was later released on bail. Thompson had been most recently assigned to the department’s Patrol Division.
The incident was reported at about 2 a.m. Aug. 16 in the 4300 block of Clinton Avenue in Richmond, not far from a home Thompson’s family reportedly had up for sale at the time. It was not immediately known what part, if any, proximity of the residence to the scene of the alleged beating may have had. The victim, who was treated at a local hospital for injuries received when she was struck by the bat, told police she had run out of gas and was walking in the area when she was assaulted. Another woman who was also allegedly struck by Thompson could not be located though investigators hope to contact her in order to gain a full accounting of the incident.
In a release issued by Capt. Mark Perlite, Walnut Creek police administration said they were “aware” of Thompson’s arrest.
“RPD advised us on the day of the incident and we are in contact with and cooperating with both RPD and the District Attorney’s office in regards to this ongoing investigation,” Perlite wrote.
The release further states that department officials will not be releasing any further information in the “forseeable future, so as not to jeopardize” the ongoing investigations.
