New details emerge in Seaside off-duty police officer arrest

A Seaside police officer is charged with battery after he allegedly attacked a security guard at a Monterey bar early Tuesday morning.

It all happened at the Bull and Bear Whiskey Bar and Taphouse on Alvarado Street in Monterey. The officer involved is only in his twenties and was sworn-in as a Seaside police officer in May 2018.

One of the bar managers tells KION on Thursday that the off-duty Seaside police officer, Juan Gomez-Vazquez, was drunk when the fight broke out.

The Seaside Police Department confirms with us that Gomez is facing a battery charge.

The bar manager says Gomez wanted to enter the bar, but security guards would not let him in because he was intoxicated. The manager then alleges Gomez sucker punched one of the guards and tried pushing his way through, but Gomez was taken down and eventually arrested by Monterey police.

“I think that’s bad because he not only makes himself look bad, but the whole department and the city. Because he’s representing the city and the department, even if he’s on duty or off duty,” said Jeremy Atkins, a Seaside resident.

Gomez was not on-duty when the fight broke out. The Seaside police chief tells KION he has been assigned to desky duty for now and has been restricted from identifying himself as an officer.

But the bar manager believes the officer got off too easy, and that if it were any other person, more charges would have been pressed.

“Sure, maybe they’ll go to court, maybe they’ll be in administrative review, but in the end, often times charges are dropped or some kind of settlement is made,” said Kirill Vompe, a student in Monterey.

“I think if he was off duty, he should be treated like any regular civilian because if it was any of us, we would’ve got charged and all that and I just think they shouldn’t get special treatment,” said Atkins.

The Seaside police chief says Gomez has a right to due process, but he will face an administrative review by the department to see if there will be further consequences.

The bar manager says he wishes Gomez no harm, but they hope justice will be served. Residents are not so lenient either.

“If you’re willing to do those actions, then you should be willing to get the consequences,” said Atkins.

“I think people deserve chances and they need to be rehabilitated, but it’s getting ridiculous,” said Vompe.

Gomez is now awaiting court proceedings to see if the charges will carry a punishment.