BEAUMONT: Off-duty officer arrested after altercation was trying to recover stolen phone

BEAUMONT — An off-duty police officer trying to recover a stolen phone was arrested and a man was hospitalized following an altercation after the officer tracked his stolen phone to a residence on the 1200 block of Massachusetts Avenue in Beaumont. The incident, altercation and arrest happened Wednesday evening, Feb. 7.

Beaumont PD officers were dispatched to the home about 7:30 p.m., after the off-duty officer, later identified as 31-year-old, Alejandro Brown, called 911 and requested help retrieving his stolen phone. Brown is an officer with San Bernardino City Unified School District Police Department.

“While officers were en-route to the location; a second reporting party called dispatch to report that a friend had been a victim of an assault by an off-duty police officer,” Beaumont PD officials explained after the incident.

When officials arrived at the scene they found both parties still at the location. The assault victim, who officials have not publicly identified, was eventually transported to an area hospital for further evaluation and treatment of serious injuries reportedly inflicted by Brown.

At the conclusion of their investigation officers arrested Brown and he was booked into Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning early the following morning on suspicion of battery resulting in serious bodily injury, brandishing a firearm and assault under the color of authority.

An online jail record search revealed Brown was released within hours of his arrest after posting $25,000 bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned at an unspecified court, Mar. 26.

Officials did not state if the stolen phone was located and recovered or specify the status of the phone theft investigation.

Anyone with information about this investigation or who witnessed the incident is encouraged to contact Beaumont PD’s On-Duty Watch Commander at (951) 769-8500. Callers can refer to incident file number 1802B-0860 and can remain anonymous. Information can also be provided anonymously here or here.

 

Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, who recently moved from Riverside County to Shasta County, runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County.

Trevor 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, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.