Around 3:27 a.m. on 18 August 2023, Martinez police answered a video alarm at Velvet, a cannabis dispensary at 4808 Sunrise Drive, and found several people with two vehicles at the business.[1][2] A white SUV fled as officers arrived around 3:32 a.m.; officers broadcast shots fired and an assault on an officer, and the second vehicle crashed into a fire hydrant.[1][2] Four officers fired at the fleeing car, killing the driver, Tahmon Wilson, 20, of Oakland, and wounding his brother Thomas, who was in the car with him.[2][3] The officers were identified as Cole Bennett, Marc Kahue, Raul Ceja-Mendez and Alexander Tirona, and were placed on administrative leave.[2]
After an investigation lasting more than three years, the California Department of Justice announced in September 2026 that there was insufficient evidence to criminally prosecute the officers, finding they held the subjective belief that deadly force was necessary and that this could not be proven unreasonable beyond a reasonable doubt.[3] According to the DOJ, Wilson drove forward, struck an officer and sideswiped a patrol car; the car proved to be stolen, and a loaded semiautomatic firearm was found on the front passenger floorboard.[3] The DOJ issued eight recommendations to the department covering deadly force against moving vehicles, communications, medical aid, body-worn cameras and evidence handling.[3]
None of the four officers who fired still worked for the department: Bennett and Tirona, probationary hires, were not retained; Kahue died of leukemia in January 2025; and Mendez-Ceja left in May 2025.[3] Another officer at the scene, Giani Arone, was later fired for kneeing the handcuffed brother after the crash and for hiding knives Bennett gave him as the shooting investigation began.[3]
