By Neil Farrell ~
A local transient man is in the hospital and under arrest after he allegedly tried to burglarize a Morro Bay thrift store, then got into a violent confrontation with police and was shot by an officer.
According to police, at 6:43 a.m. Friday, Oct. 30, 9-1-1 dispatch got a report of an attempted break-in at The Good Flea Thrift Store, 335 Quintana Rd., which was reported by a nearby business owner.
That person, who spoke exclusively to The Bay News on condition of anonymity, said he was at work when he heard glass breaking and looked but didn’t see anything amiss.
So he locked his doors and went to investigate, where he contacted a young man, who was walking towards him. Asked “What’s going on?’ the business owner said the guy said he was “reclaiming some of God’s property,” and that he’d be back.
The witness said he smelled something funny and realized it was from a fire extinguisher the suspect used to allegedly break the store’s front window. “He was covered in all this white stuff,” he said.
He was also in possession of a short tree stick, perhaps 2-feet long and a longer 4-foot stick. He also had a nylon bag that appeared to be the kind a small pup tent might be stored in and was in possession of a golden, glass candleholder, the item he had taken from the front display at the store.
The suspect said to the witness, “Want to know what’s happening?” Then allegedly admitted that he’d broken the window and grabbed the candleholder, said the witness. “He said, ‘I’m taking this for my alchemy,’” the witness said.
The witness said at that point he started to take pictures of the suspect with a cell phone and then called police. The suspect rode across Main Street and up the hill, turning on Surf Street heading towards the Vet’s Hall. The witness turned down Market to Beach Street and down to Embarcadero, waiting for him in the Front Street parking lot. “I was on the phone to the cops the whole time,” he said.
He followed the man, who had the short stick in his teeth with the longer stick in one hand and the bag with God’s property in the other.
About Coleman Park, the witness said, a police SUV and squad car (driven by Sr. Ofc. Dale Cullum and Ofc. Maria Lomeli) passed him and got behind the suspect. One car was bumping the suspect’s rear tire with the vehicle, the witness said. Eventually they stopped him and he saw the female officer get out but didn’t see the male officer at first, because the cars were too close together.
Within just seconds, he said, he could see the suspect swinging the bigger stick over his head in a threatening manner. Sr. Ofc. Cullum pulled his gun and was backing away, ordering the man to stop. He told him to stop about four times, the witness said, and then he shot him.
He did not actually see Ofc. Cullum get hit, he said, because from his vantage point, the police vehicles were blocking his view. However, City officials said Cullum was treated for a head wound and taken to the hospital for further treatment.
The suspect, identified as Alec Bryan Stephenson, 20, was shot in the leg and suffered a non-life threatening injury. He was treated by fire department paramedics and taken via ambulance to Sierra Vista Hospital where he was listed as in stable condition. He is under arrest at the hospital.
Cullum too was taken to the hospital for treatment for what Chief Amy Christey said was a head injury.
Chief Christey said they called in the Sheriff’s On Scene Investigation Unit to handle the investigation into both the alleged attempted burglary and alleged attack on the officers. Christey did not release what will likely be a slew of charges that Stephenson will face.
Stephenson, Christey said, is well-known to the police department. On Oct. 24, just six days prior, he was arrested by police on suspicion of car burglary and was apparently out on bail when the latest incident occurred.
As for why he was on the loose, Chief Christey said that non-violent offenders are often released on their own recognizance but didn’t know why Stephenson wasn’t still in custody.
This was the first officer-involved shooting in Morro Bay since the 2001 double murder at the Morro Strand State Park Campground, where two innocent people were murdered in a dispute over a campsite, and a state park ranger shot the suspect.
In the 24 years this reporter has covered MBPD, this is the first time that one of its officers has shot a suspect with a lethal round. Others have been shot with non-lethal beanbags and many have been tasered or pepper sprayed. It’s also the second violent encounter local police have had with a suspect in the past several weeks.
On Sept. 10, a Paso Robles man was arrested after he allegedly fought with two officers at Morro Rock. Joseph Speakman, 42, was allegedly acting aggressive towards others and challenging people to fight.
“According to one witness,” Chief Christey reported at the time, “Speakman attacked officers who then deployed TASER stun guns in self-defense to restrain and control Speakman.”
Chief Christey said during the struggle, Speakman allegedly “struck one of the officers in the head and a second officer sustained minor injuries.”
Chief Christey, at Friday’s press conference, praised the cooperation the department received from the Sheriff’s Office, Highway Patrol, Pismo Beach PD, community volunteers and the District Attorney’s Office.
City Manager David Buckingham said at the news conference. That “Morro Bay is now, as usual a wonderful and safe community due to the professionalism of the Morro Bay Police Department.”
He praised the speedy response of the Sheriff’s Office, and the Sheriff’s dispatch unit that the City contracts with for service. Fire and ambulance paramedics performed flawlessly to “provide treatment to Officer Cullum and the suspect.”
Mayor Jamie Irons, who was also at the press conference, praised the response of the emergency agencies and reaffirmed that Morro Bay is a safe community, which was a testimony to the extensive training of the police, fire and emergency crews.
As for the increase in crime associated with the local homeless population, Buckingham said he was impressed “with the police department’s interactions with the homeless population in Morro Bay.”
Mayor Irons also praised their efforts in that regard. He recently went on a ride-along with police and was impressed with their interactions with the homeless folks.
As for the investigation, District Attorney Dan Dow said their investigation into the officer-involved shooting incident would take however long as needed depending on the facts. “We will look at every bit of evidence that the officers collected at the scene,” he said.
Both Sr. Ofc. Cullum and Ofc. Lomeli have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the results of the investigation.
