Three men suspected of robbing an off-duty U.S. Secret Service agent who was in Southern California last month for President Joe Biden’s fundraising event have been apprehended, the Tustin Police Department announced July 25.
Jamonte Fitzgerald Johnson, 32, Bertran Claude Bell, 38, and E’Shon Dwayne Dodson, 21, were arrested between July 11 and July 24 and remain in custody in Orange County.
Mr. Johnson and Mr. Bell are being held without bail, and Mr. Dodson on $1 million bail, according to inmate records.
Police allege the men robbed the secret service agent in Tustin, about 35 miles southeast of Los Angeles, at about 9:30 p.m. June 15.
Mr. Johnson allegedly pointed a handgun in the face of the agent, who was off-duty, according to authorities. Police allege he demanded the agent’s belongings and took his bag.
The agent was returning from work while President Biden was in Los Angeles at his star-studded celebrity fundraiser hosted by late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. It was unclear whether he worked at the president’s event.
Police say he fired his service weapon at the suspects and they fled in the car.
The agent was not injured during the robbery, according to Secret Service director of communications Anthony Guglielmi.
Arrests
Mr. Johnson was arrested in Riverside, about 40 miles northeast of Tustin, on July 11, and charged with robbery and possessing a gun as a felon, according to court records. Prosecutors added sentencing enhancements for the personal use of a gun, which adds time to a sentence if convicted.Mr. Dodson was arrested in the Watts area of Los Angeles, about 11 miles south of downtown, on July 17, and charged with robbery with a sentencing enhancement for having an armed firearm during the commission of a felony.
The third suspect, Mr. Bell, was arrested in Los Angeles Wednesday, with the assistance of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Major Crimes Bureau Burglary-Robbery Task Force. He was expected to appear in court Friday.
All three suspects have multiple arrests and convictions in Los Angeles, according to the Tustin Police, however some arrest records were not immediately available.
Mr. Dodson was cited in August 2022 for a misdemeanor offense and arrested again in October 2022 for a felony, according to inmate records. He posted a $35,000 bond for the felony arrest, but the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute the case.
“A case against the individual was declined on Oct. 28, 2022, due to insufficient evidence,” Venus Dunn, a D.A. spokesperson, told the Epoch Times in an email.
Mr. Bell pleaded no contest and was convicted in June 2023 to misdemeanor domestic fighting and disturbing the peace.
