2 convicted in armed robbery of Secret Service agent in Orange County on night of Biden’s LA fundraiser

2 convicted in armed robbery of Secret Service agent in Orange County on night of Biden’s LA fundraiser

TUSTIN, Calif. (KABC) — Two men were convicted on Monday of the robbery of a Secret Service agent in Tustin in June.

Jamonte Fitzgerald Johnson, 32, was convicted of robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon, with jurors also finding real sentence enhancements for personal use of a firearm. Johnson will be sentenced on November 22.

Co-defendant Eshon Dwayne Dodson, 21, was convicted of robbery with an extended sentence for being armed with a gun during the commission of a robbery. Dodson will be sentenced on January 10.

Bertran Claude Bell, 38, pleaded guilty in August to robbery with an enhanced sentence for being armed with a gun during the commission of a crime and was sentenced to six years in prison. He accepted a plea deal from Orange County Superior Court Judge William Scott Zidbeck.

Bell has previously been convicted of attempted theft in December 2004.

Tustin police responded to Stratus Lane and West Wind Drive on June 15 about 9:35 p.m. on reports of six gunshots, prosecutors said in court filings.

When officers arrived, the victim identified herself as a Secret Service agent and pointed to a gun that one of the suspects had dropped, prosecutors said.

The officer told police he was driving his department-issued vehicle to his home in Tustin after working at a fundraiser for President Joe Biden in Los Angeles, where former President Barack Obama was in attendance.

When the officer arrived home around 9:30 p.m. and walked to his door, he was confronted by robbers, prosecutors said.

A car pulled up and one of the suspects jumped out, ran up to the victim and demanded at gunpoint, “Give me your bag,” referring to a laptop he was carrying, prosecutors said.

The officer demanded the suspects get out of the car, but they did not respond, prosecutors said. When a second suspect got out of the car, the officer fired seven shots into the vehicle because he feared the suspect was armed.

The suspects drove away with the officer’s cell phone, radio, radio holster, lapel pins, flashlight, gun magazines and other items.

Police were able to use a feature on iPhones to track the suspects and found the phone at Jamboree and Walnut avenues, prosecutors said. Investigators found other items nearby, such as the radio and flashlight.

Authorities were able to obtain a DNA match from the dropped gun that linked Johnson to the robbery, prosecutors alleged.

Prosecutors said Dodson was the driver and Johnson was a front-seat passenger who got out of the car and the officer, Tustin Police Sgt. said Ryan Newton. The officer managed to pull out his service revolver and fire at Bell, who was “apparently struck by the victim’s gunfire,” Newton said.

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