Beaumont, Banning Police Recognized for "Investigative Excellence"

San Gorgonio Pass and San Jacinto Valley police officers were recognized Thursday night in Riverside for "investigative excellence" by the Law Enforcement Appreciation Committee, according to announcements from the city of Beaumont.

Members of the Beaumont Police Department received awards for detective work and for working with other law enforcement agencies to help solve a series of Walmart robberies across Riverside County, a city press release states.

Beaumont police Officer Liam Doyle, Cpl. George Walter, Sgt. Darin Wann, Cpl. Scot L. Davis and Cpl. Saban R. Hardesty were recognized during a ceremony at the Riverside Convention Center.

Also recognized were Banning police Officer Everett Babcock and Detective Robert Galletta, formerly of Hemet police and now with Beaumont police.

"On behalf of the city of Beaumont, we wish to thank the Law Enforcement Appreciation Committee for this special recognition of our hard-working and dogged detectives," Beaumont Chief of Police Frank Coe said in a statement. "Through the many twists and turns of this investigation, our detectives followed every lead and worked very closely with other law enforcement agencies.”

Beaumont police Crime Analyst Cecilia Neal assisted detectives and played a key role in the investigation, Coe said.

Starting in November 2010, Beaumont detectives worked the Walmart case for about two months, according to city officials.

Armed suspects robbed the Walmart at 1540 E. 2nd St. Beaumont on Nov. 1 and tied up the store manager, police said. Working with police in Corona, Palm Desert, Barstow and Oregon, Beaumont detectives gathered intelligence, conducted surveillance, located suspects, and served numerous search and arrest warrants throughout Riverside County, Beaumont officials said.

By pooling information, police in the different cities discovered three Walmart robberies - in Beaumont, Corona and Palm Desert - were connected and the loss was more than $300,000, Beaumont officials said.

Four suspects were arrested for armed robbery and are awaiting trial, according to police.