Barstow cop arrested on hate crime charges

A Barstow police officer was arrested in Hesperia on suspicion of a hate crime early Thursday morning.

Jimmie Walker, 30, of Victorville, was arrested at 4:40 a.m. at the 11200 block of Fifth Avenue in Hesperia by sheriff’s deputies responding to a disturbance, according to sheriff’s department spokeswoman Cindy Bachman.

Bachman said that a caller told dispatchers there was a physical fight, and that racial slurs were used by Walker when deputies arrived on the scene. No one from the scene required medical attention, Bachman said. Walker was not on duty at the time of the incident.

Walker was arrested and booked for “a crime against the person of another that either includes the present ability to commit violent injury or causes actual injury ... for the purposes of interfering with that persons free exercise or enjoyment of any right secured to him or her by the Constitution.”

Bachman said that she did not know if Walker was charged in relation to injuries caused by the fight or charged only for using a racial slur. Bachman also said she did not know Walker’s relationship — if any — with the victim.

Walker was booked at the West Valley Detention Center and was released at 11:20 a.m. Thursday after posting $50,000 bail.

Barstow Police Chief Dianne Burns said that Walker — a former San Bernardino County deputy before joining the police force — has been placed on at-home leave during the investigation, but could not legally comment further on the incident.

Attempts by Freedom High Desert reporters to locate Walker for comment were unsuccessful.

Aaron Dome can be reached at 760-256-4126 or at adome@desertdispatch.com.