SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Border Patrol agents in San Diego arrested a former Los Angeles Police Department officer, who is also a registered sex offender, for human smuggling Monday night, according to a press release from the agency.
Gariner Beasley, 62, faces felony charges of a felon possessing a firearm and ammunition and misdemeanor counts for impersonating a police officer, online jail records indicated.
Border Patrol's press release says it received a tip around 10 p.m. Monday of someone possibly smuggling people over the border in an older model SUV. An agent responded to the area and found a vehicle matching the tip, and the driver pulled over when they noticed the agent.
Border Patrol says the driver showed a badge "similar in appearance and style" to an LAPD badge and identified himself as a lieutenant with the department. The agent also saw four people in the SUV's back seat, and they conducted an immigration inspection.
The people, three women and a man, told the agent they recently crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, the press release states.
The agent arrested all the people in the SUV and took them to a nearby Border Patrol station for processing, the release says.
When agents searched the SUV, they found a 9mm ghost gun, a shoulder holster and two fully loaded 9mm magazines.
Border Patrol's record check on Beasley showed he left LAPD in 1993, the same year he was convicted of a forceful rape, the press release says. He served three years in prison for the crime.
Agents handed over Beasley, the SUV and gun to the San Diego Sheriff's Office for more processing. The migrants who were smuggled were processed for removal. Deputies booked Beasley into the San Diego Central Jail. He is being held on a $20,000 bail.
“Our agents never know what they are going to encounter on any given day. In this instance, our agents were able to take a dangerous criminal out of the community,” said Chief Patrol Agent Patricia McGurk-Daniel.
To report suspicious activity to Border Patrol, you can contact the San Diego Sector at 619-498-9900.
