Angry crowd surrounds Riverside officers during dangerous arrest of armed gang member

July 7, 2021 Trevor Montgomery

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Faced with an unruly and belligerent crowd during the arrest of a documented gang member with a criminal history of weapons-related offenses, Riverside police officers were forced to halt and relocate their investigation to their downtown police station to ensure the safety of their personnel early Sunday morning, July 4.

The man who was arrested was found to be armed with a semi-automatic handgun with an extended magazine, outside a local hookah bar that officials later said has been the scene of numerous shootings, assaults and fights, as well as a murder that occurred two years ago.

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A pair of Riverside PD officers were patrolling the University Avenue corridor shortly before 2 a.m. when they stopped a car near the intersection of University and Iowa avenues.

“When they contacted the driver, they learned he was a documented gang member with a criminal history of weapons-related offenses,” RPD has since reported. “The driver refused to get out of the car for several minutes, becoming belligerent and uncooperative.”

Faced with the added danger of dealing with an unruly crowd while conducting a traffic stop that led to the discovery of an illegally modified handgun with extended magazine, officers were forced to relocate their stop to the police station so they could safely conclude their investigation. Riverside Police Department photos

As officers continued to order the driver, later identified as Lavell Anthony Harthon, 32-years-old, of Moreno Valley, from the vehicle, a large crowd emerged from the nearby University Lounge Hookah Bar as it was closing and began to surround the officers.

Although officers were eventually able to convince Harthon to exit the vehicle, the crowd “continued to be unruly to the point where officers could not safely complete their investigation at the scene,” RPD described.

Shaky and blurry cell phone video filmed at the scene and later shared to social media showed a large chanting crowd surrounding and yelling at the officers. During the short, 14-second video, at least one bottle could be seen flying through the air in the direction of the officers, who were forced to take the suspect and his car to their nearby downtown police station so they could safely finish their investigation.

Officials went on to explain that while in the midst of the unruly crowd before they were forced to leave the scene, officers discovered Harthon was in possession of a partially concealed loaded handgun, which they discovered on the driver’s-side floorboard after seeing light coming from a tactical light attached to the gun.

“(The weapon) was found to be a semi-automatic Glock .45 caliber handgun with an extended 26-round magazine, although it was loaded with 16 bullets,” officials described. “The gun was equipped with a threaded barrel capable of accepting a flash suppressor or silencer, which makes it an assault weapon under current gun laws.”

Based on their investigation, officers arrested Harthon and he was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside on suspicion of multiple weapons violations and resisting or obstructing a peace officer.

Online jail records indicate he was released just a few hours after his arrest after posting $50,000 bail and he is scheduled to be arraigned at the Riverside Hall of Justice on Nov. 12.

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Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 50, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).

Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.

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. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s 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.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.