ANTIOCH — Kathryn Wade hasn’t been the same woman since 2014. She said her life has been marked by years of trauma against her family by law enforcement, including the alleged beating of her late son, Malad Baldwin.
In an effort to move her life forward, the Antioch City Council last week voted in a closed-door session to pay Wade $349,000 as part of a settlement from a March 10, 2023, lawsuit she brought against the city and two police officers – Michael Mellone and Jacob Ewart – for alleged violations during their employment with the Antioch Police Department.
With Councilmember Mike Barbanica absent, the motion passed 4-0.
At last week’s meeting, Wade wore an orange head scarf and T-shirt which had an image of Baldwin. She thanked the council for voting on the motion to settle.
“I want to thank the council for allowing some accountability. There is no justice when you’re going up against police, especially Antioch Police Department, because they fall on the immunity,” said Wade during public comment.
Wade said living in Antioch has been a “horrible” experience.
“All I can say (is that) we were targeted, we were hunted. I mean, the things that I even found out later on from information that I could not get, thanks to my counsel, it will blow your mind,” said Wade, appearing to hold back tears. “It’s just so much pain, and people wonder why Kathryn is not the old Kathryn that she used to be. Because Kathryn has been wounded by the very people that’s supposed to serve and protect and combat crime, but instead they were committing the crimes.”
According to court documents, her son was “brutally” assaulted by Antioch officers in April 2014. The lawsuit said that Baldwin was seated in Wade’s car, which was parked in front of their house, when two Antioch police officers — James Colley and Casey Brogdon — approached the car, opened the passenger door and yanked Baldwin out.
The two officers then kicked and beat him with a flashlight even after he lost consciousness, court documents state. Wade, who was present during the incident, also reportedly sustained physical and mental injuries.
In her complaint, Wade claimed that apart from the alleged assault of Baldwin, Antioch officer Santiago Castillo had also verbally assaulted and pointed a gun at her while she was in a wheelchair that same month.
While Wade mourned the loss of her son, the mother said she had another rude awakening when she saw text messages sent by some Antioch officers that included the mocking of Baldwin and the injuries he suffered. About two weeks after Wade filed her 2023 lawsuit, the Antioch Police Department came under fire by the FBI and the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office following the release of a 21-page investigative report that revealed several officers exchanged disturbing text messages about Black people in the city.
“And I read the text messages over and over again, and I think about my sixth-generation grandfather, how he was kidnapped at 16 years old and brought over here on a slave ship, taken to Indianapolis, North Carolina, South Carolina and then walked to Mississippi,” said Wade. “So my walk, and my son’s walk, Malad Baldwin, here in Antioch, California, has been a horrible experience, along with my son, Russell Wade, who is not here with us today. The late Russell Wade was also a part of that torment and corruption.”
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Wade said she continued to be mistreated by Antioch officers who had subjected her to multiple traffic stops. She also alleged that Baldwin was again beaten at least three times in September and December of 2019, as well as in March 2020.
In the lawsuit, Wade claimed that her address was flagged as “hostile with PD,” which required at least three or four officers for service. In March 2021, shortly before Baldwin died, Wade had sought emergency medical help and specifically requested that no police officers should be sent to her house. However, she said a few officers arrived and entered her home without a search warrant despite her refusal to allow them in.
After learning of the text messages that were included in the 2023 scandal, Wade filed an amended complaint on May 13, 2023, that included allegations of racial bias.
Defendants moved to dismiss her complaint in June. In August, the court held a hearing on the motion “granting and denying in part with leave to amend” the complaint. In September, Wade filed her third amended complaint. On Sept. 26, defendants filed their motion to dismiss.
In their motion, the defendants argued four grounds for dismissing the case. Among them was the plaintiff’s failure to provide substantive allegations.
Outgoing Antioch Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe said the city council decided to settle the case with Wade as they felt she was wronged.
“What I can say is that Miss Wade was wronged and from my vantage point, we felt comfortable going another direction that helped rectify that,” said Hernandez-Thorpe.
He added that each settlement has its unique circumstances as sometimes it can cost less to settle than defend a case.
“In every settlement, doesn’t mean that we (the city) did anything wrong. Sometimes we think it makes more sense to settle a case because the cost of defending it will be much more than what it cost to settle it, but in this case, I wouldn’t describe it as that,” he said.
After the original 2014 encounter, Baldwin sued the city in 2015. The case was settled out of court with Colley and Brogdon admitting no wrongdoing. Baldwin later died in 2021.