Robbery of Secret Service agent returning to Tustin from Biden event in LA gets man 6 years

Bertran Claude Bell, 39, took a plea deal from a judge, while 2 other men were ordered to stand trial.

A Los Angeles man has pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years in prison for the robbery of a Secret Service agent who was returning to Tustin after working at a fundraiser for President Joe Biden in Los Angeles in June.

Two other men charged with the robbery were ordered to stand trial following a preliminary hearing on Thursday, August 1.

Bertran Claude Bell, 39, pleaded guilty on Monday, July 29 to robbery with a sentencing enhancement for being armed with a gun in the commission of a felony. He accepted a plea deal from Orange County Superior Court Judge William Scott Zidbeck.

Bell has a prior conviction for attempted robbery in December 2004.

The other defendants are Jamonte Fitzgerald Johnson, 32, and Eshon Dwayne Dodson, 21.

Johnson is charged with robbery and being a felon in possession of a gun with sentencing enhancements for the personal use of a gun, according to court records. Dodson has been charged with robbery with a sentencing enhancement for being armed with a gun in the commission of a felony.

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

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

The agent told police he was driving his department-issued vehicle to his home in Tustin after working at a fundraiser for Biden in Los Angeles that former President Barack Obama attended.

When the agent got home at about 9:30 p.m. and was walking to his door he was confronted by robbers, prosecutors said.

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

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

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

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

Authorities were able to get a DNA match from the dropped gun linking Johnson to the robbery, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors say Dodson was the driver and Johnson was a front-seat passenger, who was accused of getting out of the car and robbing the agent, Tustin Police Sgt. Ryan Newton said.

The agent managed to draw his service revolver and fire at Bell, who “was apparently struck by the victim’s gunfire,” Newton said.

Johnson and Dodson are scheduled to be arraigned again on Aug. 13.

Further information was not immediately available on Thursday.