An Antioch woman says she was subjected to a racially charged verbal assault from one man and a cough and punch from another one at Pittsburg dog park and that police did little help to her.
Nicole Terrell said a man who told her he was a federal agent hurled racial epithets at her, and another man coughed in her face before punching her during the Oct. 23 encounter at Highlands Ranch Park off Buchanan Road. One part of the park is closed off only to dogs and their owners.
Both incidents happened in front of her 6-year-old daughter, Skyler, she said. She has video that shows part of the encounters.
Terrell said she immediately filed a police report, but that she was met by a reluctance on their part to do anything. She also said the investigating officer was reluctant to give her the police report number, and that he eventually referred to her as a “suspect” in the case.
Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office spokesman Scott Alonso said police in early November asked them to prosecute Terrell for misdemeanor battery but that the prosecutors did not move forward with the case, citing insufficient evidence.
Police did not ask prosecutors to press charges against any of the men, according to Alonso. The District Attorney’s Office is continuing to investigate, he said, and a police spokesman said late Tuesday that the case has been presented once again to the hate crime unit within the DA’s Office.
Terrell said neither police nor prosecutors informed her of their decision, and that she found out only when told by this organization. She said by text Tuesday that she was “disturbed” by the news.
Terrell also said a Pittsburg police captain urged her not to file a formal complaint against the officer investigating the case and that “overall, they have been very secretive, and just not very helpful at all.”
Police spokesman Sgt. Steve Albanese said Monday that police contacted all the people involved during its own investigation, and that an independent investigator is conducting an internal affairs investigation because of the complaints toward the responding officer.
“The incident in its entirety will be reviewed,” Albanese said, without giving a timeline for when it’s expected to be completed. “Not only the incident itself, but the conduct of the officer involved.”
Terrell said it all started when a German shepherd attacked Bella, a 6-month-old Labrador Retriever that Terrell said she obtained for Skyler as a form of emotional support during the COVID-19 pandemic. The owners of the German shepherd apologized, Terrell said, and it appeared the encounter was going to end peacefully.
At that point, she said, a white man identifying himself as a federal officer walked over and said “beyond insulting things.” She said the man mistakenly “grouped together” Terrell and the other dog owners, because they were all Black.
That man eventually called 911, she said.
Terrell captured the verbal attack on video shared with this news organization.
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Some time later, Terrell said another man approached her. After some harsh words, she said he walked up to her and first coughed, then punched her in the face. She said she was examined by a doctor the next day and had a deep bruise and knot on her head.
Terrell said she filed a police report but that the police response was “a slap in the face. The officer didn’t want to write down the report number for me, and he told the first guy to have a nice day.
The videos shows confusing scenes involving Terrell, the two men and other unidentified people, with dogs running around. One of the men can be heard uttering racial slurs and is shown calling police.
According to Terrell, that man identified himself as a federal agent. In the video, Terrell can be heard saying “we have another Karen” as the man retreats with his phone, apparently calling 911.
The other man is shown seen arguing with Terrell and others about their dogs, standing between them and the first man. Later as Terrell follows him while taping, he turns and coughs at her. It is that man, Terrell said, who hit her, though that is not captured on the video. A still photo shows the man coughing, and another shows a bruise on Terrell’s head, which she said was caused by the blow.
The men involved in the incident have not been identified publicly by authorities, but ABC7, this news organization’s media partner, said it contacted the one who hurled the racial epithets after the incident. The station didn’t identify the man, either, citing his own safety concerns, but he told them he felt threatened.
He also told the station that he regretted what he said “the moment it came out of my mouth. … I apologize for my behavior you know? I’m normally a pretty well-consoled guy, I don’t think I’ve ever said anything like this in my life.”
In the meantime, Terrell said she will start going to dog parks in Antioch, but that she’s been hesitant to go anywhere because of how the incident has affected her family. She says how the case has been handled has not allowed her to heal.
“I have no closure,” she said.