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Tahmon Kenneth Wilson

Age : 20

Gender : Male

Race : Black

Date : 08/18/2023

Location : 4808 Sunrise Drive, Velvet Cannabis Dispensary

City : Martinez

County : Contra Costa

State : California

Agency : Martinez Police Department

Officer(s) :Cole Bennett; Marc Kahue; Raul Ceja-Mendez; Alexander Tirona

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Unarmed driver killed by police during response to reported cannabis dispensary burglary

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/18/2023, shortly after 3:30 a.m., Martinez Police Department officers responded to a video-verified burglary alarm at Velvet Cannabis Dispensary, 4808 Sunrise Drive. Police encountered two vehicles outside the closed business. Reporting indicated there was no evidence ultimately establishing that the dispensary had actually been burglarized.
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One vehicle left the area, after which 20-year-old Tahmon Kenneth Wilson began driving away in a separate Infiniti with his 22-year-old brother, Tommy Wilson Jr., riding as a passenger. Neither brother was armed. Neither brother was subsequently accused of burglarizing the dispensary.
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Police alleged that the Infiniti struck Officer Alexander Tirona and then moved toward other officers. Four Martinez officers — Cole Bennett, Marc Kahue, Raul Ceja-Mendez and Alexander Tirona — opened fire on the vehicle.
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Wilson's family disputed the police account. Tommy Wilson Jr. said the brothers never got out of the Infiniti and that officers began firing as Tahmon drove away. Their sister, Jaleace Smith, said Tommy described multiple police rounds coming through the rear window of the car.
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Police gunfire struck Tahmon Wilson in the back of the head and struck Tommy Wilson twice in the back, including a wound that pierced his lung. Tahmon was killed and Tommy survived his life-threatening injuries.
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The California Department of Justice opened an independent investigation because Wilson was unarmed when police killed him. The four shooting officers were initially placed on administrative leave.
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Body-camera footage was subsequently released. Martinez police later disclosed that investigators recovered a loaded handgun from inside the brothers' vehicle. Police officer interviews released in 2025 showed that officers cited an alleged display of a firearm by a vehicle occupant, the vehicle striking an officer and its movement toward officers as reasons for opening fire. The DOJ investigation remained ongoing as of March 2025.
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Wilson's family retained civil-rights attorney Adanté Pointer and initiated legal action against the city over the shooting, alleging that the officers fired into a vehicle moving away from them and that the use of deadly force was unlawful.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
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The four officers who fired at Wilson were Cole Bennett, Marc Kahue, Raul Ceja-Mendez and Alexander Tirona. Subsequent investigations uncovered serious misconduct involving officers at the scene after the shooting.
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Officer Cole Bennett was carrying a prohibited knife at the time of the incident. After the shooting, Bennett, Alexander Tirona and Officer Giani Arone were implicated in concealing the knife before investigators arrived. The Martinez Police Department sustained policy-violation findings arising from the concealment. Bennett and Tirona, who were probationary officers, were subsequently released from employment.
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Officer Giani Arone, who arrived after the shooting and was not one of the four shooters, was investigated for kneeing the wounded and handcuffed Tommy Wilson in the head while pulling him away from the vehicle. The department sustained an unreasonable-use-of-force finding against Arone. Investigators also found that Arone participated with Bennett and Tirona in concealing Bennett's prohibited knife. Police Chief Andrew White terminated Arone in January 2024, and the termination was upheld by the city manager and Civil Service Commission. The findings were reported to California POST.
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The misconduct findings concerning the knife and treatment of Tommy Wilson were separate from the investigation into whether Bennett, Kahue, Ceja-Mendez and Tirona were legally justified in shooting the Wilson brothers. As of the city's March 2025 records release, the California Department of Justice investigation into the shooting itself remained unresolved.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/martinez-fatal-police-shooting-unarmed-person-killed-https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/martinez-fatal-police-shooting-unarmed-person-killed-cannabis-shop-burglary-sunrise-drive/
https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/martinez-police-shooting-tahmon-wilson-18311015.php
https://contracostaherald.com/names-of-four-martinez-cops-in-officer-involved-shooting-at-cannabis-business-released/
https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/martinez-police-fatal-shooting-tahmon-wilson-unarmed-officer-involved/
https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/09/29/martinez-police-release-body-worn-camera-footage-of-fatal-aug-18-shooting/
https://www.cityofmartinez.org/Home/Components/News/News/320/
https://www.ktvu.com/news/martinez-officers-fired-wake-deadly-shooting-tahmon-wilson