I spent 20 years as a cop in Southern California. My last department was the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, where I left as a sergeant. I also investigated officer-involved shootings. I go where the evidence goes — even when that means saying a deputy got it wrong.
This isn’t one of those times.
This incident happened February 26, 2026 in Perris, California. You may see it referenced as Perris Police Department — Perris is a contract city. RSO handles their patrol. Same badge. Same department I came from.
What Officers Knew Before Contact
Here is what we know going in: there was a traffic stop, and the suspect — identified as Charles Beal — ended up with an active felony drug warrant. PC 11378, possession of a controlled substance for sale. Confirmed by the RSO jail booking calendar. Whether the deputy knew about the warrant before initiating the stop is unknown. In this context, it doesn’t matter. What matters is what the deputy saw when that car door opened.
The 1% Stop
When you make a traffic stop, 99% of the time the person stays in the driver’s seat, door closed, and waits for you to make contact. That is the normal script. The moment that door swings open uninstructed and the suspect gets out, you know you have a problem. That person is not following the rules of a vehicle stop. That alone changes your entire threat assessment before a single word is spoken.
Beal exited the truck uninstructed. He got out and moved toward the deputy. That is a warning sign. That is where this contact began.
What the Video Shows
The footage is a neighbor’s home security camera. Fixed position. Wide angle. No audio. This is not bodycam. It is one static slice of this incident, and the media has been treating it like the complete record. It is not.
Watch the deputy’s hands and arms throughout the contact. He is giving commands. No audio — but I have spent 20 years doing exactly this job and I know what a deputy looks like when he is giving orders. That is a 10 out of 10 certainty. Get back in the car. Get on the ground. Turn around. Show me your hands. Something along those lines was being said the entire time.
Beal makes a hand gesture toward the deputy. The deputy points back — get back in the car, most likely. By the time Beal has moved that far from the vehicle, it is too late for that command. The deputy needs him on the ground and in handcuffs.
The deputy reaches in to grab Beal’s wrist. Beal pulls his arm back to the left. Right there — that is resistance. That is PC 148, resisting a peace officer, happening in real time. The deputy has attempted a lawful detention and the suspect has physically pulled away.
What comes next is a punch to the face. I want to say something that might surprise people: I would like to see more deputies willing to do exactly that. The punch has largely disappeared from law enforcement. Officers are afraid of the optics. But a punch is an intermediate force tool with a low likelihood of causing serious injury compared to other options on the continuum. This deputy attempted a wrist grab, got pulled away from, and delivered a single strike. That is a textbook response.
The Baton — What Textbook Actually Looks Like
After the punch, Beal still does not comply. He does not get on the ground. He does not turn around. He squares back up. The deputy creates distance — correct move — and deploys his baton.
Watch where those strikes land. Straight to the leg. Single strike. That is exactly how it is taught. Large muscle groups, lower extremities, pain compliance, motor dysfunction. You are not trying to injure the suspect — you are trying to get them on the ground so you can safely take them into custody.
Beal starts to go to his knee — because it hurts, as designed — then squares back up again. Still not complying.
This is not a beating. This is a trained technique applied correctly by a single deputy on a combative subject during a traffic stop that went sideways.
The “Unarmed” Narrative
Every headline reads some version of “unarmed man punched and beaten by deputy.” The media is attempting to create a narrative that suggests the deputy did something wrong. The vast majority of use of force incidents in law enforcement are against unarmed people. That is not a scandal. That is math.
Unarmed does not mean force is prohibited. It means no visible weapon is present. It says nothing about whether the subject is complying, whether they are physically resistant, or whether intermediate force is appropriate.
Beal’s brother told FOX 11: “I’m not against no police officers for doing their job. But if a person don’t have a weapon on them, if a person don’t rush you and hit you, there’s no need to put violence to violence.”
I understand where he is coming from. But that is not the legal standard. Graham v. Connor — the Supreme Court standard governing every use of force in this country — looks at the totality of the circumstances: severity of the crime, whether the subject poses a threat, and whether the subject is actively resisting or evading arrest. A suspect who exits a vehicle uninstructed, approaches an officer, ignores commands, and physically pulls away from a wrist grab meets that standard. You do not have to wait to be struck first.
This Deputy Showed Restraint
Many deputies — good deputies — would have gone straight to gunpoint on this contact. Unknown risk subject gets out of a car uninstructed, approaches you, will not comply. Drawing your firearm is a defensible decision in that scenario.
This deputy did not do that. He went hands-on. He chose a punch and a baton over his firearm. That took more physical risk on his part, more work, and more restraint. By going to intermediate force, this deputy may have avoided shooting this man entirely. That is exactly the kind of policing we should be talking about. Not condemning it.
The Political Angle
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco is running for Governor of California and polling well. Ask yourself whether media outlets that would prefer Bianco not reach Sacramento have any interest in framing his department as one that brutalizes unarmed men. I am not saying the coverage is coordinated. I am saying the incentive exists, and the coverage reflects it.
My Assessment: This Gets Cleared
One punch. One baton strike to the leg. No firearm drawn. Subject taken into custody. Limited intermediate force on a non-compliant subject who got out of a vehicle uninstructed, approached a deputy, ignored commands, and physically resisted. That is not a brutality case. That is a use of force case. On the facts available right now, it looks justified.
The open question is the body camera. FOX 11 confirmed on air it is unknown whether cameras were rolling. If footage exists, RSO needs to release it. When it drops, I expect it to confirm everything the security camera already shows.
We follow the evidence. The evidence points one direction.
— Former Lawman
This incident remains under internal RSO review. No body camera footage has been released as of the date of this article. All conclusions are based on available video, public booking records, and 20 years of law enforcement experience.
