A bar employee and an off-duty sheriff’s deputy likely prevented a tragedy when they disarmed a man at a downtown Redlands bar early Sunday morning and held him until police arrived.
The suspect, 36-year-old Gilbert Manuel Arellano III, had reportedly already been drinking earlier Saturday, May 19, at a birthday party before going to a downtown bar at 19 E. Citrus Ave. where he continued to drink.
At the bar, Arellano became involved in an altercation with other unidentified customers. He left the bar and went to his home in the 200 block of Nordina Street where he retrieved an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle and a loaded 30-round magazine. As he returned downtown early Sunday morning, Arellano confronted three people in a parking lot and pointed the gun at one of them in a threatening manner.
Arellano then walked into the entrance at 19 E. Citrus Ave. holding the rifle in plain sight. An employee of The Underground, one of the businesses that shares an entrance, stopped Arellano and attempted to get the rifle away from him. Customers, including an off-duty San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy, learning that there was an armed man in the building, came to assist. The off-duty deputy disarmed Arellano before restraining him. Redlands Police arrived and took Arellano into custody.
Arellano was arrested for attempted assault with a deadly weapon. Police determined that Arellano had additional weapons registered to him and, by court order, was not allowed to possess any guns. On Sunday afternoon police served a search warrant on his home where they confiscated additional weapons.
Anyone with information regarding crime or suspicious activity is asked to contact Redlands Police Dispatch at (909) 798-7681 ext. 1. Certain non-emergency crimes may also be reported online using the Redlands Police Department’s CopLogic reporting system at cityofredlands.org/police/report. Suspicious activity and tips can be reported using the Redlands Police Department mobile app available for android, iPhones and iPads.