San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy to stand trial on alleged Mongols affiliation, gun offenses

A San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy suspected of affiliating with the Mongols and possessing illegal weapons to benefit the outlaw motorcycle gang was ordered Wednesday, April 24, to stand trial.

Superior Court Judge Alexander R. Martinez acknowledged, however, that due to the complexity of the case against Christopher Bingham and the legal issues involved, he expects his ruling to be challenged.

“I am sure that whatever decision this court makes is going to be appealed by the other side, and I look forward to and invite Fourth District Court of Appeal review and scrutiny of this court’s decision,” Martinez said during proceedings at the San Bernardino Justice Center.

During a three-day preliminary hearing that concluded Monday, Bingham, 45, was portrayed as a Mongols “hangaround,” someone who is not an official member but who hangs out with and rides with members, attends rallies and other events, and has earned the gang’s trust.

Bingham, an 18-year department veteran most recently assigned to the Central Detention Center in San Bernardino, used the alias “Charles Tate” when associating with members of the motorcycle gang, testimony showed.

Related: Jailed San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy denies being Mongols motorcycle gang member

The judge ordered Bingham to return to court May 10 for a pretrial hearing.

Arrest challenged

Bingham’s attorney, Jeff G. Moore, challenged the deputy’s March 23 arrest in Beaumont, which enabled investigators to obtain a warrant to search his home, where about 160 firearms and other weapons were seized, along with Mongols paraphernalia.

In a motion to quash the search warrant and suppress the evidence, Moore said the arrest was unlawful due to lack of probable cause and because the arresting San Bernardino County deputy, Robert Stucki, lacked jurisdiction since the arrest was in Riverside County.

Moore also argued that the search warrant was overly broad and failed to specifically state Bingham was a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy.

Although Martinez agreed that Stucki may have been outside his jurisdiction, he said the deputy’s arrest of Bingham — who was in possession of a Glock 9 mm handgun — qualified as a citizen’s arrest.

“California law clearly establishes that an arrest by an officer that may violate territorial limitations is not necessarily invalid, and is then analyzed as if the arrest had been a citizen’s arrest,” Martinez said. He said Stucki had reasonable cause to believe Bingham had committed a felony by having a loaded gun while participating in a criminal street gang.

“Based on all of this, the court feels that deputy Stucki engaged in a lawful citizen’s arrest,” said Martinez, who also disagreed that the search warrant was vague and overly broad and denied Moore’s motion.

Bingham and two other men, both suspected Mongols members, were riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles while Stucki followed them from Yucca Valley onto the westbound 10 Freeway. He called the California Highway Patrol dispatch for assistance. The two companions, both wearing Mongols vests known as “cuts,” were pulled over in Beaumont for speeding by CHP Officer Teodora Blanco and Bingham was pulled over by CHP Sgt. Scott Beauchene.

Following discovery of Bingham’s weapon, Stucki placed him under arrest and then turned him over to Blanco for transportation.

Moore said it was clear from Stucki’s testimony at the preliminary hearing that he made the arrest as if he had peace officer powers at the time, not while acting as a private citizen.

“Stucki wasn’t making a citizen’s arrest. The judge was ruling that, regardless of Stucki’s lack of jurisdiction at the time of the arrest, it was still a valid arrest because of the citizen’s arrest powers in the state of California,” Moore said.

The attorney said he likely will file another motion in Superior Court, or with the Fourth District Court of Appeals in Riverside, challenging the evidence.

Charges against deputy

Following Bingham’s arrest, he was booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, where he posted bail and was released.

Later that day, investigators searched Bingham’s home in Twentynine Palms and found the weapons cache, including a modified, fully automatic assault rifle with an attached grenade launcher, a Remington 870 less-than-lethal shotgun reported stolen from a sheriff’s station, a customized AR-15 assault rifle with a 12-inch barrel, gun silencers and Mongols paraphernalia.

Bingham was arrested again April 4 on the gun offenses and booked into the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, where he is being held on $240,000 bail.

The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office initially charged Bingham with 10 felonies, but on April 16 amended its complaint to include three additional felony counts of possession of destructive devices.

Each charge against Bingham includes a gang enhancement, alleging the crimes were committed “for the benefit of, at the direction of, and in association with a criminal street gang,” specifically the Mongols outlaw motorcycle gang.

Bingham has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Source: Orange County Register