Southwest Riverside County: Deputy sued for off-duty shooting (Aug. 25, 2011).. by Sarah Burge

09:59 PM PDT on Thursday, August 25, 2011

BY SARAH BURGE
STAFF WRITER
sburge@pe.com
A Riverside County sheriff's deputy who was involved in an off-duty shooting and then a suspected DUI crash less than nine months later is now facing a DUI charge and a lawsuit, court records show.

Mark Buelna, 26, was a deputy at the sheriff's Southwest Station last summer when he accidentally shot himself and a friend after a night out in the Temecula area, a 2010 Riverside County Sheriff's Department incident report states. Sheriff's officials did not disclose the shooting at the time, and Buelna was not charged with a crime. Earlier this month the friend, Richard Strehl, sued Buelna and Riverside County alleging negligence, court records show.

In April, Buelna crashed into a parked pickup at a construction site on Interstate 215 in Perris, California Highway Patrol officials said. Misdemeanor DUI charges were filed against him in June. He pleaded not guilty, court records show.

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Mark Buelna is the target of a lawsuit and of a criminal DUI case.
Buelna's lawyer, Joseph P. Smith, declined to comment.

Buelna was hired by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department in 2005 as a jail deputy, was promoted to deputy sheriff in 2007 and is now assigned to the sheriff's Hemet Station, department officials said.

It is unclear whether Buelna will keep his job.

Capt. Patricia Knudson, of the sheriff's professional standards bureau, said she could not comment on Buelna's case because it is a personnel matter.

Speaking generally, she said, a misdemeanor conviction against a deputy might lead to disciplinary action or termination, depending on the circumstances. But it would not automatically result in termination, she said.

A deputy convicted of a felony would not meet state requirements to be a peace officer and would likely not stay with the department, sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Joe Borja said in a statement.

The department thoroughly investigates allegations of misconduct by deputies and takes appropriate corrective or disciplinary action, Borja said.

GUN WENT OFF

On July 25, 2010, Strehl picked Buelna up at his Menifee home that evening, the sheriff's incident report says. They went to The Beer Hunter in Menifee to have a drink and watch television before heading to dinner with a group of off-duty deputies at the Tilted Kilt in Temecula.

Later, the group went to ET's Sports Lounge in Temecula, where Buelna met a woman he had been dating, according to witness statements in the report.

Strehl told investigators that the woman's ex-boyfriend was arguing with her at the bar and he was thrown out by security. The group left the bar about 2 a.m., and the woman asked Buelna for a ride home to the Meadowview neighborhood of Temecula, the report says.

When Strehl, Buelna and the woman arrived, the ex-boyfriend was outside. Strehl said the man approached them, seemed aggressive and demanded to speak to the woman, the report stated. Buelna got his gun from the truck, told the man to back off and identified himself as a police officer, the report says. Strehl, Buelna and the woman left in the pickup.

As they drove near Winchester and Murrieta Hot Springs roads, Buelna tried to holster the gun and it went off, the report says. A bullet passed through Buelna's left hand and Strehl's right thigh, lodging in the driver's seat.

Strehl said he hobbled out of the driver's seat. The woman drove them to Rancho Springs Medical Center in Murrieta, where hospital employees called police, the report says.

Strehl told investigators the shooting was an accident. Although Buelna had several beers, his friends told investigators he did not appear to be drunk. The report does not mention any tests to determine Buelna's blood-alcohol level. It says Buelna declined an investigator's request to collect a blood sample a few hours after the shooting.

"It's just a case of negligence," said Strehl's attorney, Timothy W. Peach.

Peach said Strehl, a tribal ranger on the Pechanga Reservation near Temecula, suffered painful injuries that caused him to miss several weeks of work. The lawsuit does not allege that Buelna was intoxicated, Peach said.

Peach contends that Riverside County should be liable for Buelna's careless handling of the gun, though he was off-duty that day, because Buelna retrieved the weapon while trying to keep the peace and identified himself as an officer.

Peach said Strehl would not be giving a statement.

DUI ALLEGATION

On April 6, Buelna crashed on Interstate 215 in Perris while driving under the influence of alcohol, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Buelna was heading south in a Dodge Dakota in the early morning when he came to a full freeway closure, CHP spokeswoman Officer Sylvia Vargas said. All southbound lanes were closed for construction, and traffic was being detoured off the freeway at Nuevo Road, Vargas said. Despite signs, cones and a light board marking the closure, Buelna drove into the construction area, striking a parked pickup, Vargas said. The impact pushed the vehicle into another parked truck.

Buelna's truck sustained major damage in the crash, she said.

Buelna suffered moderate to major injuries and was taken to Riverside County Regional Medical Center in Moreno Valley for treatment, Vargas said. No one else was injured.

The month before the crash, according to the sheriff's officials, Buelna had received an award from Mother's Against Drunk Driving honoring him for the number of DUI arrests he had made.