Leaders of a campaign to oust Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe say they were robbed of a recall when a professional signature-gathering company failed to turn over signed petitions and skipped town with a $23,000 payment it already collected.

“The company hired to gather signatures defrauded us,” the committee posted on its Recall Lamar Thorpe Facebook page Wednesday night.

Thorpe was served intent to recall papers last fall, with proponents citing a range of reasons, including their belief that the mayor was not supportive of small businesses or the police department.

Proponents needed a total of 9,511 signatures by 5 p.m. Wednesday to get the recall initiative on the November ballot, but they were unable to submit them, according to a statement posted on social media that same night. A representative for the group said members realized the fraud during the verification process.

They also said in the statement that an additional 1,500 signatures that volunteers collected were given to the company to verify as registered voters and were never returned.

Attempts to reach the company, which they paid to collect and verify signatures but have not named, went unanswered, recall leaders said in a statement on Facebook, adding that they believe the company has left the state.

The recall committee said it plans “to pursue recourse against the signature-gathering company and individuals responsible for what we believe is defrauding members of our community.”

“All funds used for paying for signatures were contributed by residents, businesses and others who support the recall,” recall proponents posted on their Recall Lamar Thorpe Facebook page. Recall proponents did not say how much they have raised and have not yet filed campaign finance statements.

Calling the professional signature company’s acts “criminal,” the recall leaders said in a statement that they plan to file a police report.” They did not return calls seeking comment and did not name the signature-gathering company, but said in a Facebook post that “no further public statements will be made as to not interfere with the investigation process.”

Citing the COVID-19 pandemic state of emergency, the recall committee asked to extend the deadline by 60 days so they could collect more signatures.

“We were issued our approval to gather recall signatures on 12-02-2021 at a time when not only were we amid the COVID pandemic, but Contra Costa County was one of the stricter counties enforcing COVID restrictions,” recall proponent Kathy Cabrera wrote in their request to the city clerk. “Between 12-02-2021 and 3-31-2022, which is the date the governor lifted the COVID restrictions, we were limited to how we could collect signatures such as door-knocking, holding indoor events, etc., and for four months our efforts were hindered.”

The request for a COVID-19-related extension was denied by City Clerk Ellie Householder, who said she consulted with outside counsel in making her decision. She did not learn about any problems with the professional signature gatherers until after that, she said.

Thorpe meanwhile had raised $80,437 from 62 residents, friends and businesses, from Jan. 1 to March 31, according to his campaign finance documents. He posted a response to the ending of the recall efforts in a video on his Facebook page.

“Thank you so much everybody and thank you to the good people of Antioch for overwhelmingly rejecting this recall,” the mayor, surrounded by a group of supporters, said. “I’m excited because 150 years ago, Antioch had its first mayor, and its first City Council meeting took place at the Hard House in our downtown. And today, I had the honor of giving the city’s 150th State of the City address just a few blocks from there.”

Thorpe added that the event gave him a chance to reminisce on the past while seeing the diversity and inclusiveness that Antioch represents today.

“That’s why I’m so excited that the recall effort is finally over and we can move forward on continuing to be an inclusive community, a community where everybody is welcome and we’d stop shutting out different perspectives just simply because of who people are.”