HEMET: Felon arrested with illegally modified rifle

HEMET – Officers arrested a man who was armed with an illegally modified rifle after a foot pursuit Sunday, Nov. 6. The incident and arrest happened near the rear of Target at 3527 W. Florida Avenue in Hemet.

The incident began after a concerned citizen flagged down a Hemet police officer regarding a suspicious person walking in the area at about 4 a.m. The citizen told the officer the man was possibly carrying a weapon or some other object shaped like a rifle.

When they arrived in the area, responding officers located the man carrying a large, wrapped item in his hands.

The subject, who was later identified as Clayton Wettigsearls, 33, of Ventura, immediately fled from officers when he saw them approaching. As he ran, he threw the item he was carrying into a trashcan.

Officers quickly apprehended Wettigsearls after a short foot pursuit.

During their investigation, officers located and recovered the item Wettigsearls had dumped in the trashcan. They determined Wettigsearls had been carrying a sawed-off .22 caliber rifle wrapped in a sweater.

At the end of their investigation, officers arrested Wettigsearls for being in possession of a short-barreled rifle, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and resisting or delaying a police officer, according to police officials. Wettigsearls was transported to Riverside County Jail and held in lieu of $10,000 bail.

 

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Trevor Montgomery spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including the Robert Presley Detention Center, the Southwest Station in Temecula, the Hemet Station, and the Lake Elsinore Station, along with many other locations.