Post panel recommends decertifying Orange County deputy after division finds repeated dishonesty, DUI and unsecured firearm

The Peace Officer Standards Accountability Division recommended revoking the POST certification of Deputy Jared Nathaniel Bertain of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department after investigators concluded he gave dishonest statements in four internal affairs interviews, drove on a suspended license following a DUI conviction and left a loaded handgun unsecured in a rental vehicle.

Division law enforcement consultant Paul Nanfito told the Police Officer Standard Accountability Advisory Board that the division found “clear and convincing evidence” that Bertain committed multiple acts of serious misconduct under penal code section 13510.8 and related commission rules. Nanfito said the case spans two internal affairs investigations and 17 months of events between June 1, 2022, and October 5, 2023.

The division’s presentation said Bertain was stopped by the California Highway Patrol on June 1, 2022, and later pled guilty in Orange County Superior Court on Oct. 7, 2022, to two misdemeanor DUI counts and admitted a blood alcohol concentration greater than 0.20. The division presented a DMV order of suspension dated Oct. 14, 2022, showing the respondent’s driving privilege was suspended effective Oct. 7, 2022. Nanfito told the board that traffic-camera and body-worn-camera footage show the respondent driving on multiple dates between Oct. 7 and Nov. 7, 2022, while the division concluded his license was suspended.

The division also reported that on Dec. 28, 2022, Anaheim police located a Glock 19 with a 15-round magazine and one round chambered inside a Dodge Ram 1500 the deputy had been using as a loaner vehicle; the firearm bore the respondent’s serial number. The division said the deputy had returned the loaner truck to the dealership on Dec. 13, 2022, yet the gun remained in the vehicle for about two weeks while a subsequent renter drove it.

Nanfito said the division’s finding of dishonesty was based on four administrative interviews in which the respondent repeatedly misstated the length of his license suspension and denied or mischaracterized whether he drove while suspended. The division presented DMV paperwork showing a written order of suspension dated Oct. 14, 2022, and a verbal notice of actions the respondent signed at the DMV on Dec. 20, 2022, that listed the actual suspension dates. The division said those documents were available to the respondent before his first internal affairs interview on Dec. 21, 2022.

Deputy Bertain told the board he accepted responsibility and described personal struggles with post-traumatic stress and alcohol that he said contributed to his conduct. “I completely own the mistakes that I have made,” Bertain said in his remarks. He told the board he has attended counseling, tried EMDR therapy, joined AA earlier in the process, accepted a department demotion and has been sober for months.

Kylie Coleman, counsel for the respondent, urged the board to consider mitigation and the deputy’s subsequent conduct, noting a last-chance agreement executed Feb. 22, 2024, and that the department rescinded a termination and gave him a chance to continue working with written conditions. Coleman said Bertain had served over eight years with no prior discipline and had been repromoted to patrol after completing a demotion period.

After deliberation in open session, the advisory board voted to recommend decertification to the commission. The motion to recommend decertification passed on a roll call vote of seven ayes: Member Clavo, Member Crawford, Chair Dudley, Member Glaser, Member Johnson, Member Lara and Member Pena.

The board’s vote is a recommendation to the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training; it is not itself a final suspension or revocation. The division and the commission may proceed to schedule a full evidentiary hearing before an administrative law judge where final determinations on decertification would be made.

Votes at a glance: POST case 2316745 — recommendation to decertify Deputy Jared Nathaniel Bertain (Orange County Sheriff’s Department): Motion carried 7–0 (Clavo, Crawford, Dudley, Glaser, Johnson, Lara, Pena voting aye).

Background: The division’s presentation noted Bertain earned multiple POST certificates (basic, intermediate and advanced) and received his department’s Medal of Valor for a separate active-shooter response on Aug. 23, 2023. The division contrasted that commendation with findings that he made false statements during internal affairs interviews, drove on suspension after his Oct. 7, 2022 DUI conviction and left a loaded handgun unsecured in a loaner vehicle later driven by another citizen.

The board’s recommendation will be forwarded to the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training for a final decision and possible scheduling of an evidentiary hearing.