Sheriff's Deputy Suspended After Alleged DUI, Terrorist Threats

An off-duty Riverside County sheriff's deputy suspected of threatening two California Highway Patrol officers as they were detaining him on suspicion of drunken driving and then damaging their patrol car was on paid administrative leave from his job, sheriff's officials confirmed today.

Brett Thomas Pendleton, 36, was arrested April 5 on suspicion of misdemeanor DUI, misdemeanor vandalism and making terrorist threats (a felony) after he was pulled over for allegedly driving under the influence.

Pendleton was booked into the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning. He posted a $5,000 bond and was released a short time later.

The deputy, who works as a patrolman in the sheriff's west county division, was suspended from duty after his arrest.

According to CHP Officer Darren Meyer, a spokesman for the agency's San Gorgonio Pass office, two highway patrol officers spotted Pendleton's 2007 GMC pickup truck on state Route 79, just south of Domenigoni Parkway, in Winchester at around 2:50 a.m. on April 5 and "initiated a traffic stop for a vehicle code infraction."

Meyer would not specify the type of infraction.

After talking with the off-duty deputy, officers determined that he was under the influence of alcohol and placed him under arrest, according to Meyer.

Meyer said Pendleton was in possession of a handgun but the firearm was never displayed in a threatening manner.

At some point during his arrest, the DUI suspect made threats and damaged the door of the patrol car, Meyer alleged, without going into detail.

No one was injured.

The case is expected to be submitted to the District Attorney's Office with a request for prosecution. No charges had been filed as of Tuesday.

—City News Service