Officer Charged With Brandishing Gun at Motorist

A city police officer was charged Wednesday in a December incident in which he allegedly brandished his service revolver at a motorist on the San Bernardino Freeway. He was also placed on administrative leave.

Officer Frank David Bullington, 31, was charged with misdemeanor drawing or exhibiting a firearm for allegedly waving his .45-caliber handgun at Nag Kan Nguyen during an argument at the side of the freeway last Dec. 22, said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. Bullington was not on duty at the time.

Bullington faces a Sept. 15 arraignment. No bail has been set.

Gibbons said prosecutors opted not to charge Bullington under a state law that is directed at road rage and makes it a felony to display a firearm to another driver.

El Monte Assistant Police Chief Bill Ankeny said Bullington was placed on immediate paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal case.

Since the incident, Bullington has been assigned to administrative duties. Ankeny said the department has completed an internal investigation and will not take any disciplinary action until the criminal matter is resolved.

The incident is the latest of several involving El Monte officers and their guns. Last year, two other officers were disciplined for shooting out a light at a city yard while consuming alcohol.

And on July 20, an unidentified female El Monte police officer shot her weapon in the air outside a bar called Kicks in the city of Industry, Ankeny said.

The district attorney’s office is reviewing whether to charge the female officer.