Man Charged With Punching Oakland Police Officer Refuses to Appear in Court

The arraignment of a man accused of punching an Oakland police officer in an unprovoked attack last week was called off after he refused to appear in court on Wednesday for the reading of his charges, according to the Alameda County district attorney’s office.

Lawrence Holley, 48, was arrested Friday afternoon near 104th Avenue and International Boulevard on suspicion of assaulting an Oakland police officer, who was sitting in his patrol vehicle when Holley came up to his window and began repeatedly punching him, prosecutors say. Holley was taken to Santa Rita Jail with bail set at $150,000.

Holley, who was on felony probation at the time of the attack, is charged with felony assault likely to cause great bodily injury, resisting a police officer and causing injury, according to Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson — charges that drew praise from the Oakland police officers union. His arraignment was rescheduled for Thursday.

“If we are asking the police to protect us, then we must also protect them when they are the victim of an unprovoked assault,” Jones Dickson, who campaigned on a promise to improve public safety, said in a statement on Tuesday. “Today, we have filed felony assault charges that reflect the outrageous nature and seriousness of the case.”

Huy Nguyen, president of the Oakland Police Officers Association, said Jones Dickson is showing people that “there is a new district attorney in the county.”

The attack reveals some of the more serious safety concerns facing law enforcement in the city, Nguyen said. The Oakland Police Department is understaffed and lacks sufficient support from city leaders, he noted, adding that the relationship between OPD and Oakland residents is strained because the city is not investing in public safety.

The city of Oakland is facing a $130 million budget deficit, and efforts to mitigate the shortfall have resulted in sweeping cuts to city services, including the Police Department. Last year, the city announced that it would be laying off several non-sworn Police Department employees, curbing overtime spending and closing two police academies for the remainder of the fiscal year.

OPD has contracted from more than 800 officers a few years ago to 675, and because more than 100 officers are out on leave, the number that can actually respond to calls for service is much lower, Nguyen said.

“The Police Department continues to shrink, and it creates a much more challenging work environment for our officers,” he said. “We’re unable to respond to calls from community members. That’s an issue that we need to fix, especially if we want to gain their trust.”

When officers fail to respond to calls or respond too late, the tension between residents and officers only gets worse, Nguyen said, adding that last week’s attack suggests that people are less concerned about being held accountable for their actions.

The situation is dire for both residents and officers who might be targeted amid mounting frustrations, he added.

Oakland’s violent crime rate, which includes homicide, aggravated assault, rape and robbery, was nearly 20% lower last year than the year prior, falling from 7,900 violent crimes to 6,361, according to OPD’s end-of-year crime report.

However, Nguyen said that comparing crime rates to record highs is not an indicator that public safety is improving. The focus instead should be on making Oakland a place where people feel safe and comfortable, and that is not the case, he said.

“Our community members don’t see what our officers are facing, but we also understand the challenges our community members are facing,” Nguyen said. “I understand the frustration when they call, and we don’t respond in a timely manner.”

KQED’s Brian Krans contributed to this report.