Yuma police officer arrested in Calif.
Jared Elkins accused of sexual assault in San Diego
A Yuma police officer is out of jail on $100,000 bond after being arrested in California last week on charges stemming from an alleged sexual assault.
Yuma Police spokeswoman Sgt. Lori Franklin said Monday the department was informed by San Diego police Friday morning of the arrest of one of its police officers, who was off-duty at the time.
The officer has been identified as 33-year-old Jared Elkins, a sevenyear veteran of the force. Franklin said the department is in the process of placing him on administrative paid leave until further notice.
According to Lt. Scott Wahl of the San Diego Police Department, officers responded to the 4700 block of Marlborough Drive shortly before 4:30 a.m. that morning in regard to a report of a sexual assault.
Elkins was taken into custody and later booked into San Diego County jail on charges of suspicion of rape by force or fear, forced oral copulation, misdemeanor sexual battery and making a criminal threat.
“Upon arrival, officers took one suspect into custody. His name is Jared Elkins and he’s an off-duty police officer from Yuma,” Wahl released in a statement. “He was booked into San Diego County jail
on sexual assault charges. This investigation is still ongoing.”
Elkins posted bail the day after his arrest and has been ordered to appear in court on Sept. 25. He has not been formally charged in the incident.
San Diego police are not currently providing any additional details of the incident. Yuma police are not releasing a photo of the officer.
“We wanted to get the information out to the community before rumors and speculation get out of control,” Franklin said. “It is not a good day for the Yuma Police Department. This is one of our own officers.”
Franklin said the investigation into the incident is being conducted by the San Diego Police Department and that the Yuma police are not a part of it.
“It is not our investigation,” Franklin said. “We are hoping for the best, but ask that the entire police department not be judged on what one officer may have done.”
She noted, “We are hoping for a positive outcome, but if there isn’t one we will deal and heal from there.”
Franklin also stated that Yuma police will not be commenting any further on the incident or the officer’s arrest.
Elkins is the son of YPD Lt. Daniel Elkins, who was killed along with Arizona Department of Public Safety Sgt. Michael Crowe in the line of duty on July 4, 1995, when they discovered Yuma County Sheriff’s Deputy Jack Ray Hudson burglarizing the offices of the Southwest Border Alliance.