CMC officer arrested for allegedly beating Grover Beach bank manager, using racial slur
A corrections officer with the California Men’s Colony was arrested for allegedly beating a Wells Fargo bank manager and calling him racial slurs after the officer was asked to wear a mask in the building, police said.
On Tuesday, the Grover Beach Police Department announced it had arrested James Allen Jones Jr. of Grover Beach on felony charges of committing a hate crime, making criminal threats and battery with serious bodily injury.
On Sept. 3, a man entered the Wells Fargo branch on Grand Avenue without a mask.
A bank manager, who asked to remain anonymous when talking with The Tribune, said he asked the man to put on a face mask. At that point, the manager said, the man became extremely aggressive, called the manager a racist slur and caused a commotion in the bank lobby.
Later that evening, the manager said the man showed up in the parking lot and attempted to beat him up. The two fought, but then the man fled the scene and police arrived, according to the manager.
According to Tuesday’s news release from Grover Beach police, officers who arrived at the scene located articles of the man’s clothing and launched an investigation into the incident.
Over the next 10 days, officers and detectives collected evidence including witness statements, video footage and photos of the suspect from the scene to determine his identity, according to the release.
On Tuesday, detectives served a search warrant for Jones’ home and property, and Jones was taken into custody at his workplace, the agency said.
According to the release, Jones is employed as a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation corrections officer at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo.
CMC officers were “helpful in making the arrest and turning Mr. Jones over to our detectives at the institution,” according to the release.
Jones’ bail was set at $50,000. As of Tuesday evening, Jones was no longer in custody.
Why police waited to release information about assault
The Grover Beach Police Department also released a statement on why it chose not to initially report the crime to the public.
The incident in question only came to The Tribune’s attention when the wife of the manager reached out asking for help.
According to the department, “Hate crime investigations are sensitive cases that are taken very seriously by the Police Department and the department takes caution in releasing information.”
“Our officers and investigators spent several days following up on many leads, conducting numerous interviews of witnesses, conducted multiple follow-up interviews with the victim, collected several articles of evidence and ultimately identified a suspect that was not known during the preliminary stages of the investigation,” the release read. “In this case, the distribution of preliminary information could have negatively impacted our investigative efforts and could have resulted in inaccurate witness statements, the loss of physical evidence and the suspect evading capture.”
The department said it is committed to “thoroughly investigating cases for the protection of the victim, as well as the community,” before noting that racism has no place in the community.
“Hateful speech, violent behavior, racism, bigotry and prejudice of all forms are not acceptable, and they have no place in our society,” the release said. “The city of Grover Beach is committed to fostering a collaborative, safe and culturally diverse environment for its residents, workers, business owners and tourists. We will continue to advance values of human rights, peace, respect and inclusivity in our community.”
This story was originally published September 14, 2021 at 4:49 PM.
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