Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco says he was "embarrassed" by video of deputy scrolling on dating app during standoff
During a one-on-one interview with CBS LA, Riverside County Sheriff and California gubernatorial candidate Chad Bianco said that he was "shocked" and "embarrassed" by a video that showed one of his department's SWAT deputies scrolling on a dating app in the midst of a standoff with an armed suspect.
The incident happened during an hours-long standoff after an armed pursuit suspect crashed into a wall near a Jurupa Valley school on April 8.
As the suspect remained barricaded inside of his vehicle, which was surrounded by multiple RSO patrol vehicles and two SWAT team BearCats, CBS LA captured aerial footage of the scene, including the moments that a SWAT deputy appeared to be scrolling through what looked to be a dating app on his cell phone, all while taking cover behind the armored vehicle just feet from the suspect's car.
"I was shocked, I was embarrassed, I was angry," Bianco said when asked about his initial reaction to the video. "That is not representative of my department. I am unbelievably, unbelievably over the top proud of my SWAT team and it was a slap in the face to them. It was an embarrassment to them."
Though the exact details of what the deputy was doing haven't been released, RSO officials said that they have launched an internal investigation into the incident.
"It should not have happened; it is intolerable in this line of work," Bianco said. "We will ensure that nothing like that ever happens again."
Bianco also spoke further on the standoff and pursuit crash that led to the video of the deputy. The crash appeared to have been caused when an RSO deputy in a K9 unit patrol vehicle deployed a pursuit-ending tool called a "grappler." Instead of stopping the suspect's vehicle as it was supposed to, it appeared to cause the suspect to lose control of his vehicle, which then veered off the road and slammed into the wall.
"It was unfortunate, but it doesn't change that the fact that the grappler is amazing and we will continue to use it," Bianco said. "We've had over 100 successful, completely successful, perfect operations of the grappler. It prevents pursuits, it stops pursuits. We try and stop them before they even begin."
He said that the patrol vehicle was mistakenly spiked by a spike strip that was thrown at the suspect's vehicle, which then accidentally deflated the patrol car's tires and prevented the deputy from easily getting in place to use the grappler.
