Long Beach Police Sergeant Arrested as Suspect in Assault, Attempted Rape

A Long Beach police sergeant has been arrested on suspicion of attempted rape, kidnaping and assault with a deadly weapon, Los Angeles police reported Tuesday.

Sgt. Robert Ballew, a 16-year veteran of the department, was arrested at 1 a.m. Sunday by officers responding to a call about a screaming woman in San Pedro, according to detective Julie Nelson of the Harbor Division’s sex-crime unit.

Ballew, who is in his mid-40s, was booked into the Harbor Division’s jail in San Pedro at 3:44 a.m. and released on his own recognizance, according to Gregory Petersen, Ballew’s attorney. Long Beach police then picked up Ballew from the San Pedro jail and transported him to his own city Police Department, where he was detained for several hours, Petersen said.

Ballew, a sergeant in the patrol division, was suspended with pay Tuesday morning, according to Paul Chastain, president of the Long Beach Police Officers Assn.

Nelson said that the case is under investigation and that “the Long Beach Police Department doesn’t want (us) to release any information on this.”

Long Beach police refused to provide any information on Ballew, including his age. “It’s a personnel matter for the Long Beach Police Department, and we’re not making any comments,” said Lt. T. Hulsey, of the department’s Internal Affairs Division.