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A Trail of Guns and Lies {James Beck history of Crime}
The Signal ^
| 9/8/01
| Eric Thayer
Posted on 09/08/2001 11:48:05 AM PDT by tbeatty
A little more than a week has passed since the Aug. 31 shooting in Stevenson Ranch, in which a Santa Clarita Sheriff’s deputy and the man who allegedly shot him were killed.
As time passes, more details have emerged about the life of James Allen Beck, who agents from the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were to serve with a search warrant for weapons violations and charges of impersonating a law enforcement official. Officials say Beck killed a Santa Clarita Sheriff’s deputy who was assisting other officers in the shootout.
Beck was arrested a number of times following his termination from the Arcadia Police Department in 1988, although he spent more time pretending to be an officer than actually serving as one.
Court documents from the early 1990s show that Beck had various brushes with the law, including various arrests and convictions for weapons possession and theft.
Beck graduated from Palisades High School in Pacific Palisades in June 1984. His education included one year at Santa Monica City College and at Rio Hondo College— where Beck received a certificate in basic police academic— and one semester at West Los Angeles College.
Beck’s official law enforcement career lasted only 10 months, though he continued to pass himself off as a member of law enforcement until his death, saying he worked for various agencies on a number of undercover assignments.
Beck worked for the Arcadia Police Department from June 1987 through August 1988. After that, he was dismissed for lying to his superiors while still on his 18-month probationary period.
According to his parole officer’s report, Beck felt he had been unfairly left at the scene of a burglary by his supervising officer.
“(Beck) indicates that he was fired from that job when he reported his supervisor having left him when they responded to a burglary in progress. The supervisor’s story was different and the police personnel did not believe (Beck),” the report stated.
After he was dismissed, Beck applied at a number of other local law enforcement agencies, including the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Pasadena Police Department, Alhambra Police Department, Covina Police Department and the Los Angeles Police Department.
Those attempts were unsuccessful, so Beck found work as a part-time security guard at Gladstone’s For Fish from June 1989 through January 1990. He also told his parole officer he was a part-time reptile salesman, providing mostly snakes and lizards to pet stores.
But in early January 1990, Beck was arrested for the first time by the Santa Monica Police Department on charges of credit card fraud and possession of stolen property, including a shotgun he stole from Arcadia PD.
Those charges also included a theft from Judson Swearing, owner of Cole’s Guns, who had known Beck for a couple of years and at that time had been providing him with a place to live because Beck told Swearing he was in danger. Beck said he could not go home because his life was in jeopardy, stemming from an arrest he had helped make before he worked for Arcadia PD, when he was a sheriff.
Two of the guns Beck was in possession of were from Swearing: a BBI 9mm from his home and a .22 caliber pistol belonging to Cole’s Guns.
In addition to providing Beck with a room in his home in Woodland Hills, Swearing also allowed Beck to borrow a 1976 van.
But Swearing started to get suspicious of Beck after a manager at Gladstone’s called to check into Beck’s employment status as a deputy sheriff in Malibu. That department said they had never heard of Beck.
Swearing began to take firearms from his home to a friend’s house, but one of the weapons, the 9 mm BBI pistol, was missing.
Credit card receipts for several purchases were also found in the trash by Swearing, one of them belonging to Phillip Mullen, an employee of Cole’s Guns. Among the receipts bearing Beck’s fingerprints were June 8, 1989 purchases for a baby blue parrot from the Bird Factory for $740.18 and the Chart House restaurant in Malibu for $108.51.
Other purchases included camera equipment and more restaurant bills.
Court documents stated that “Mr. Swearing indicates that the defendant (Beck) initially appeared to him to be a nice guy and he trusted the defendant. The defendant said he was a police officer who needed help in finding a place because a parolee had threatened him... he later learned that the defendant had been fired from the Arcadia Police Department for lying. The defendant needed a place to stay because the defendant had bounced checks with his last landlord and covered it up by stealing back the bounced checks from the landlord’s mailbox...”
Swearing also referred to Beck as a “big con.”
In addition to Swearing’s allegations, another employee of Gladstone’s— Swearing sometimes provided security for the restaurant— came forward and said he saw Beck in possession of a stack of stolen credit cards, and what he estimated to be about $30,000 in $100 bills.
Despite a not guilty plea on all charges, Beck was convicted in June 1990 on the credit card forgery and receiving stolen property. He was put on probation, which he eventually violated by not adhering to the terms of that probation.
About a year later he was arrested again for impersonating a police officer, in addition to more weapons violations.
According to the arresting officer’s report, a 911 hang-up call had been received by the Santa Monica Police Department. Deputies were responding to the call when they discovered Beck’s Chevrolet Caprice Classic— a car used by several law enforcement agencies.
The car, made up to look like an undercover sheriff’s deputy vehicle, including blue, amber and red lights, and a police radio, raised suspicion among the officers, who opened the car to check its Vehicle Identification Number.
“We believed that it was unusual for a law enforcement officer to leave his car in such a visible situation with unsecured equipment and unsecured weapons in an unsecured area,” the report stated.
The interior of the car also contained a sheriff’s green raid jacket, bulletproof vests, a walkie-talkie, handcuffs and a black briefcase.
It was in the briefcase that they discovered documents bearing Beck’s name, along with the title of Sergeant for the Sheriff’s Narcotics Bureau.
Upon further search of the car, officers discovered, in addition to the shotgun being loaded, a .22 pistol.
Officers ran Beck’s name through the sheriff’s department, which yielded no matches for an undercover officer bearing that name working for the department.
Further check showed Beck’s earlier convictions in 1990.
In the trunk of the car, officers found an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, a Winchester 30 aught-six, a Remington shotgun and a Cobray submachine gun. All weapons were loaded.
Beck called later in the day, using the name Jim Johnson, to report the car stolen. He said he was installing the radio in the car and that he had left it out overnight. He also said that it belonged to the sheriff’s department.
Officers responding to the call recognized Beck from photos and arrested him. He was convicted in October 1991.
During that time, Beck had been hired by Van Zandt Williams, owner of KHM Communications in Santa Monica, who thought Beck was a sheriff’s narcotics division deputy or an undercover assignment.
In addition, a manager of KHM stated that Williams had met Beck at the Malibu Sheriff’s Station, and that Beck “often orders items from the sheriff’s logistics and that several times persons from the sheriff’s logistics have called (KHM) to speak with Mr. Beck.”
The manager also said “Beck has a partner whose first name is Phillip. He apparently is a very large-sized body builder whose nickname is Bear and also alleges to be a (Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department) deputy sheriff.”
Williams, who lived in Pacific Palisades, was also a reserve sheriff in Malibu. Beck was living at Williams’ business, where he worked night security. In addition, Williams told officers he and Beck had visited several police stations.
“Defendant (Beck) seemed to know some of the personnel there and everyone assumed that he was, in fact, a police officer,” the report states.
Beck also served as a track coach for Immaculate Heart High School from February through May 1991, listing his employment as an undercover deputy for the sheriff’s department.
After being granted parole again, it was revoked in 1992 because Beck had been lying to his parole officer about where he lived.
He had told officials that he was living with his parents in Los Angeles, but a call by his parole officer at the time to the number listed on his contact information yielded no information as to his whereabouts
His father told him that Beck had not lived there for four years.
In addition to the outstanding warrant for his parole violation, Beck was involved in two other incidents in 1992, one of them involving Williams, who was also conned out of money and favors by Beck.
UCLA officers received information that Beck was somehow involved in the theft of three cell phones from an office on campus UCLA officers went to question.
Beck was posing as a UCLA student and volunteering for the Graduate Student Association of Riot Relief program.
The officers received a tip that Beck would be in a gym on the UCLA campus.
Just before they went to question him, officers did a search for outstanding warrants and found two, one for the parole violation and another for his involvement in a burglary.
The burglary he was wanted for involved Williams’ home in Pacific Palisades, and among the items taken were collectors’ guns and family photo albums— Beck was apparently enamored with Williams’ daughter.
He was eventually arrested after the UCLA officers found items in Beck’s possession that were later confirmed as belonging to Williams. He was never implicated in the UCLA incident.
Beck appealed the conviction for the 1992 burglary and weapons charges in early 1993.
But that appeal was unsuccessful, and Beck served almost six years in prison. He was released in August 1998.
Officials are still investigating Beck’s involvement with the shootout in Stevenson Ranch.
TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:
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Funny, there's no mention of his undercover work for BATF or DEA or whatever other agency people were claiming.
THis guy, while alive, sounded like a real life JBT, not to mention career criminal and habitual liar.
Beck was a scumbag no better that George Rivas.
1
posted on
09/08/2001 11:48:05 AM PDT
by
tbeatty
To: howlin
Here's the details on Beck.
2
posted on
09/08/2001 11:48:40 AM PDT
by
tbeatty
To: tbeatty
3
posted on
09/08/2001 11:51:30 AM PDT
by
abner
To: MindBender26,imberedux,P
I guess you people are "disruptors" so go ahead and disrupt.
4
posted on
09/08/2001 11:53:17 AM PDT
by
tbeatty
To: E. Pluribus Unum twodees PoohBah supercat roughrider RGSpincich LadyJD Cap'n Crunch
Bump
5
posted on
09/08/2001 11:56:41 AM PDT
by
tbeatty
To: tbeatty
Disrupting away.
Of course, we'll all learn soon how this is all really a conspiracy by the Build-a-Burgers (with bacon and cheese), the Trilateral Commission, and the Nazi Flying Saucers to frame the valiant and heroic patriot, James Beck.
6
posted on
09/08/2001 12:02:45 PM PDT
by
Poohbah
To: tbeatty
Oh boy, no hung juries? Slam dunks, all!
To: Poohbah
I'm waiting for someone to claim it took a week to make all this stuff up.
8
posted on
09/08/2001 12:13:22 PM PDT
by
tbeatty
To: tbeatty
Finally! More meat on the bone.
9
posted on
09/08/2001 12:13:51 PM PDT
by
ironwill
To: tbeatty
It appears that the government was telling the truth about Beck's past. Fair enough. I still think it essential, however, to regard the government version of any events such as this skeptically until more facts come to light. After all, everyone in 1992 "knew" that David Koresh was a methamphetamine producer even though today we know such claims to have been deliberate lies on the part of the government.
I am, to be sure, still troubled by the fact that no mention was made of actually trying to show Beck the warrant. The 'girlfriend' situation is also disturbing. Additionally, no matter what Beck did there is no excuse for government agents to fire blindly at a building the way they did. Such action not only puts innocent people in grave danger, but it also is less apt to actually stop the suspect than a more disciplined approach.
10
posted on
09/08/2001 12:17:52 PM PDT
by
supercat
To: tbeatty
As time passes, more details have emerged about the life of James Allen Beck, who agents from the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were to serve with a search warrant for weapons violations and charges of impersonating a law enforcement official.
So much for a "sealed" warrant.
To: supercat
I am, to be sure, still troubled by the fact that no mention was made of actually trying to show Beck the warrant. Did you read that link I sent you about search warrant procedures (it was IRS but I suspect BATF is similiar since they are treasury)? They secure entry to dwellling first, by force if necessary. They announce who they are and their authority ("Police, search warrant") They can use subterfuge to gain entry if necessary. After entry is secured, they then present the warrant. Apparently, they never gained entry so the warrant would never have been presented physically to Beck.
12
posted on
09/08/2001 12:26:21 PM PDT
by
tbeatty
To: tbeatty
Thanks for the heads up.
It sound like Beck was what we call a cop-wanna-be. I might add however, that my observations have been that DEA agents and informants are drawn from an ....er "rather diverse" cast.
This amateurishly written laundry list is rather damning nonetheless.
What I am after is just the facts please...
13
posted on
09/08/2001 12:28:53 PM PDT
by
LadyJD
To: Poohbah
Valiant and heroic James Beck? Seems to me you're not paying attention to facts. The guy was a psycho.
BTW, I think the Trilateral Commission is up to its ugly neck in converting nationalism to internationalism. To me that is conspiracy. If you don't like that word, try treason.
To: tbeatty
The car, made up to look like an undercover sheriff’s deputy vehicle, including blue, amber and red lights, and a police radio, raised suspicion among the officers, who opened the car to check its Vehicle Identification Number.
This could have been read through the windshield without opening the car at all, at anytime of the day or night. Shoddy work or shoddy reporting, one or the other.
To: LadyJD
It sound like Beck was what we call a cop-wanna-be. I might add however, that my observations have been that DEA agents and informants are drawn from an ....er "rather diverse" cast. Pathological liars are not good "informants." They are easy to impeach on the witness stand. He is not an informant. You can't prove the negative but it flies in the face of every bit of evidence we have and there is ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE that he was.
16
posted on
09/08/2001 12:32:22 PM PDT
by
tbeatty
To: tbeatty
Beck’s official law enforcement career lasted only 10 months, though he continued to pass himself off as a member of law enforcement until his death, saying he worked for various agencies on a number of undercover assignments.Beck worked for the Arcadia Police Department from June 1987 through August 1988. After that, he was dismissed for lying to his superiors while still on his 18-month probationary period.
Look, Beck was no saint. But trying to make him out to be John Dillinger is juvenile. This is all petty larceny type stuff. It's unsavory but certainly not the act of a public enemy number one. There wasn't one single violent act that could be pointed to in Beck's past.
The ATF had every right to serve a warrant at the home. But when Beck made it clear that he was going to resist, it was malfeasance of duty to immediately try to break down the front door and gain entry through windows. For heaven's sake, the man was known to have high powered weapons. In the old days this situation would have been difused by backing off and negotiating a peaceful conclusion to the problem.
Today's paramilitary adventurist elements in federal and local law enforcement agencies preclude a rational approach to taking such individuals into custody. Once the perp fails to follow one instruction a seige mentality takes over which immediately elevates the incident to one of an active combat zone. Moments after the warrant is served, hostilities break out and the perp is blamed for everything that ensues.
Had the ATF backed off and made phone contact, Beck could have been talked down, even if it took several days to do so. Even if he wasn't talked down, the attempt to do so would ultimately legitimize the violent actions that might ensue.
The advantages to that eventuality would have been that the deputy would not have been killed, the neighborhood would not have been turned into an active war zone and the perp and his property could have been preserved avoiding needless trauma for the community. Otherwise alternative options would have been seen as unavoidable. Who could say that now?
I see nothing valient about what happened on Friday the 31st of August. Including the unnecessary sacrifice of the deputy's life, not one honorable thing happened that afternnoon.
The deputy paid the ultimate sacrifice. While that was supremely honorable, it was completely unnecesary. The ATF should be ashamed for the forced escalation that brought it on.
The importance of artful negotiations has been almost completely dismissed by authorities. Shoot first and then shoot some more has become the modus operandi of law enforcement. Now look at the results. Makes one proud hugh. Well, if you're a JBT or a JBT sympathizer it obviously does!
To: tbeatty
After entry is secured, they then present the warrant. When did it become necessary in this country to accept on blind faith the word of a police officer that he had a warrant?
18
posted on
09/08/2001 12:36:13 PM PDT
by
supercat
To: tbeatty
Any word yet on who owned the house Beck was in.
To: tbeatty
“We believed that it was unusual for a law enforcement officer to leave his car in such a visible situation with unsecured equipment and unsecured weapons in an unsecured area,” the report stated.
Then according to the report he had to be a "law enforcement officer" for them to think it was unusual for a "law enforcement officer" to act in such an unusual manner
Crazy, circular article!
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