MURRIETA: Machete-wielding man safely detained, hospitalized
MURRIETA – Authorities were forced to use a bean-bag shotgun and a taser to safely detain a machete-wielding man Tuesday, Jan. 31. The incident happened at a strip mall in the 25300 block of Madison Avenue near Murrieta Hot Springs Road in Murrieta.
Murrieta police officers responded to the business about 6:52 p.m., after City of Murrieta dispatchers received several phone calls from citizens reporting a man armed with a machete. According to callers, the subject was not speaking to anyone and was loitering in front of the businesses, according to Murrieta Police Lieutenant Tony Conrad.
While officers were en route to the location, the department’s Dispatch Center received a call from a business in the same strip mall stating that the man had entered their business and was refusing to leave. The caller told dispatchers the subject was still armed with the machete.
As the man became more agitated, the employee and a customer fled into a locked room.
About one minute later, the first of several officers arrived at the business.
The first officer to arrive at the location contacted the machete-wielding man and ordered him to put the machete down. The man, who officials did not identify, refused to drop the weapon, demanding that the officer shoot and kill him. The officer put out a priority call for assistance and requested additional officers to respond to the location.
Several additional officers arrived at the business within minutes. They immediately contained the area for the safety of other citizens and began negotiating with the person, who continued to refuse to put the machete down.
“At some point, officers made the decision to use an extended range impact weapon as well as an electronic control device to subdue the male,” Conrad explained. Those weapons included a bean bag shotgun and a taser.
After being struck by the bean bag round and the taser, the man dropped the machete and officers safely took him into custody. Officers recovered the machete.
During a follow-up investigation, officers determined the man “was in need of a mental evaluation,” Conrad said. He was treated at a local hospital for minor injuries related to the bean bag and taser deployments.
After he was treated for his injuries, officers transported the man to the Psychiatric Care Facility of Riverside County for a mental health evaluation.
The man is not facing any charges related to the incident that led to his being detained, according to Conrad, who explained, “Although he was armed and entered or loitered around several businesses, it is not believed he ever threatened anyone with the machete.”
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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.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, Personnel and Background Investigations and he finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator.
Trevor has been married for more than 26 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and has 13 children and 12 – soon to be 13 – grandchildren.