Body-Cam Video Released After Suspect Shot Dead In Beaumont

BEAUMONT, CA — Police body-cam footage was released Tuesday of a law enforcement-involved shooting that left a Los County man dead in Beaumont on New Year's Eve.

Dennis McHugh, 44, of Glendora died just after 2:30 a.m. Dec. 31 at a Del Taco drive-thru in the 400 block of E. 4th Street.

The fatal incident began just before 10 p.m. Dec. 30 when deputies from the Perris Sheriff's Station responded to a domestic violence dispute in the 17000 block of Ridge Canyon Drive in Woodcrest, which is an unincorporated community near Perris.

When deputies arrived, a male suspect — later identified as McHugh— had fled the area. Deputies learned he had a felony warrant for a violation of an assault with a deadly weapon, domestic violence, kidnapping, vandalism, and a domestic violence restraining order violation, according to law enforcement.

A search for McHugh continued into the night and he was eventually spotted shortly after 1 a.m. Dec. 31 in a Del Taco drive-thru in the 400 block of E. 4th Street in Beaumont by a Riverside County Sheriff's Department helicopter crew.

Deputies and Beaumont police were the first to get to the location. In the video, a deputy can be heard ordering McHugh to get out of the pickup truck he was driving.

Instead of complying, the truck is shown ramming law enforcement vehicles and a bystander's car.

"Stop the [expletive] truck," a Beaumont officer yells.

Multiple police vehicles are shown arriving at the scene. Backup came from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, Beaumont Police Department, Banning Police Department, and the California Highway Patrol.

A Banning police officer shouted, "get out of the way, he's ramming cars." The Banning officer, who was on foot, backed down an embankment to escape getting struck in the melee, but the bystander's vehicle was hit again by the truck, causing the car to roll down the hill and land on top of the male officer who screamed and yelled out, "I need help."

During the commotion, multiple rounds of gunfire can be heard.

After law enforcement officers determined that McHugh was not moving, they approached the truck. McHugh was pronounced dead at the scene.

The involved deputies and officers were placed on administrative leave per their department policies. Their names were not released.

The officer who was trapped beneath the vehicle was sent to a local hospital with injuries described as non-life-threatening.

No other deputies or officers were injured during the incident.

An investigator from the Riverside County District Attorney's Office is leading an investigation into the shooting, aided by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.