A Superior Court judge will decide Wednesday, April 24, whether San Bernardino County sheriff’s Deputy Christopher Bingham will stand trial for allegedly possessing firearms and explosive devices for the benefit of the Mongols motorcycle gang.
On Monday, as Bingham’s preliminary hearing concluded, his attorney, Jeff G. Moore, challenged the merits of the deputy’s March 23 arrest in Riverside County and the subsequent search of his home in Twentynine Palms.
During the search, investigators seized approximately 160 firearms, including a fully automatic assault rifle with an attached grenade launcher, as well as three explosive projective devices, four silencers and Mongols memorabilia, including a fully patched leather vest, T-shirts, stickers and a black helmet with Mongols stickers on it.
Sheriff’s investigators arrested Bingham, 45, on April 4, after an investigation that began in January. He pleaded not guilty during his April 9 arraignment. And during an interview at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, where he is being held on $240,000 bail, Bingham denied being a member of the Mongols, and said things “were not what they seemed.”
Motion to quash
In a motion filed with the court to quash the search warrant and suppress the evidence, Moore challenged what investigators cited as the basis for Bingham’s arrest — that he was carrying a loaded firearm while participating in a criminal street gang.
Moore said the law allows sworn peace officers to carry firearms, either on or off duty. “This arrest was without probable cause and without legal justification,” he said.
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When Judge Alexander R. Martinez asked Moore if that law would apply had Bingham been been suspected of “actively associating with a criminal gang,” Moore said, “That’s correct.”
Moore also argued that the suspected Mongols belt buckle and other clothing items Bingham was wearing at the time of his first arrest were not noticed until after he was pulled over and his Glock was seized. He said investigators lacked any facts proving Bingham was a Mongols gang member or a participant in any crime.
Moore also argued that the search warrant was overly broad and failed to specifically state Bingham was a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy when it was presented to a judge to sign.
Red herring
Deputy District Attorney Alberto Juan called Moore’s argument a red herring.
“We shouldn’t overthink this,” Juan said. “There is no reason to suppress this evidence.”
Juan said probable cause for Bingham’s arrest stemmed from the belief he was associating with Mongols gang members and carrying firearms. At the time of his arrest on the westbound 10 Freeway, west of Oak Valley Parkway in Beaumont, Bingham was riding with two Mongols gang members wearing fully patched vests and he possessed a 9mm Glock.
When the CHP sergeant who pulled Bingham over ran the Glock serial number through the state Department of Justice database, it came back as unregistered, but that was because he entered the number incorrectly. When sheriff’s investigators later checked it themselves, they learned that the gun was, in fact, registered to Bingham, according to court testimony.
When Judge Martinez asked Juan why his office did not criminally charge Bingham with being an active participant in a criminal street gang in possession of a firearm, Juan said it was because Bingham was arrested in Riverside County and his office did not have jurisdiction.
Martinez said he needed time to consider legal arguments from the prosecution and defense.
‘Hangaround’
The final witness for the prosecution, Sgt. Josh Guerry of the sheriff’s gang and narcotics division, testified that Bingham was suspected of being a Mongols “hangaround” — someone who is not an official member but hangs out with and rides with members, attends rallies and other events, and has earned the gang’s trust.
At the time of Bingham’s first arrest, he was believed to be riding with two Mongols members to a rally in Azusa, Guerry testified. He said the projectile explosive devices, machine gun and silencers found in Bingham’s home were believed to be for the benefit of the Mongols.
Before he was transferred to the Central Detention Center in San Bernardino to work as a correctional deputy, Bingham served as an armorer at the sheriff’s Morongo Basin station in Joshua Tree, Guerry said.
During the search of Bingham’s home, investigators found a less-than-lethal shotgun stolen from the sheriff’s Morongo Basin station in a gun safe in his garage, according to court testimony.
Guerry also testified that text messages obtained from one of Bingham’s seized phones revealed a discussion he had with a suspected Mongols member about having Bingham convert a Glock training pistol into a fully functioning firearm by replacing the slides.
Related links
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He acknowledged, however, that there was no evidence showing Bingham supplied Mongols members with weapons or ammunition.
Before joining the Sheriff’s Department in 2005, Bingham served in the U.S. Marine Corps from September 1998 to September 2002. He served as a rifleman, rose to the rank of corporal and received several commendations. In 2015 he opened O’Three Tactical gun shop on Twentynine Palms Highway, but shuttered the business in 2021.
In late 2019 or early 2020, Bingham came under suspicion by his department for improperly using the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, or CLETS, to conduct criminal background checks. The Sheriff’s Department referred the case to the District Attorney’s Office to consider criminal charges, but county prosecutors rejected the case in January 2020 due to insufficient evidence.