BART Police Drawn Into Expanding San Leandro Police Scandal
Hit-and-run charges against San Leandro's police chief have intensified scrutiny of the department’s handling of multiple incidents involving a former lieutenant now at BART Police
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Vol. VI, No. 1,269
—Hit-and-run charges against San Leandro Police Chief Angela Avierett have intensified scrutiny of the department’s handling of multiple incidents.
The growing scandal surrounding the San Leandro Police Department now appears poised to engulf former San Leandro Lt. Antwinette Turner, who currently serves as a deputy chief with BART Police’s Progressive Policing and Community Engagement Bureau.
On Tuesday, Avierett was placed on paid administrative leave after the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office filed misdemeanor hit-and-run charges against her.
Prosecutors allege Avierett clipped the side mirror of another vehicle while driving a department vehicle on Interstate 580 with emergency lights activated, then failed to return to the scene. Avierett has said she was unaware that her vehicle struck the car.
—But the controversy now extends beyond the criminal charges against Avierett and includes allegations involving Turner, an associate Avierett hired during her tenure.
Turner was the supervising officer during a December 2024 incident in which San Leandro officers responded to reports of a belligerent individual at a downtown strip mall.
The individual was not arrested. However, one officer allegedly pulled dreadlocks from the man’s head, while another pressured him into agreeing to be dropped off in Oakland.
Turner is also reportedly tied to the department’s response involving the driver whose side mirror was damaged in the alleged freeway collision involving Avierett.
Turner left the San Leandro Police Department in December 2025 to join BART Police.
—In a development veering toward the familiar trope of “the coverup becoming worse than the crime,” mounting questions about whether San Leandro officials failed to properly investigate either incident—and later attempted to minimize the findings—could place BART Police in an increasingly uncomfortable position.
Last month, members of the Anti Police-Terror Project appeared before the BART Police Civilian Review Board to question Turner’s hiring and call for her resignation. Some speakers also demanded the resignation of BART Police Chief Kevin Franklin.
On Monday, the same group intensified its criticism of BART Police and Turner, prompting the review board to request a discussion about hiring practices within the Progressive Policing and Community Engagement Bureau.
Police review boardmembers were careful not to mention Turner by name during the discussion in order to avoid potentially having to recuse themselves from future proceedings involving the matter.
One issue potentially to emerge from the discussion is whether responsibility falls on the San Leandro Police Department for allegedly failing to investigate Turner’s involvement in either incident in a timely manner before BART Police hired her late last year.
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