A former Lemoore police officer was arrested on Tuesday afternoon when Hanford police investigators linked the man to a weekend burglary at the Skybox Sports Bar & Grill, according to an official report. Jeffrey James McCabe, now a 35-year-old technician, was arrested in the 1100 block of Manor Avenue when evidence from the crime scene and leads developed during the investigation pointed to the former lawman as a possible suspect in the case. McCabe has also been involved in ownership and operation at the restaurant.

The Skybox restaurant in the historic Hanford Courthouse was broken into on Saturday around 5 a.m. and approximately $1,273 was stolen during the burglary. Police investigators have not yet recovered the property stolen during the crime.

McCabe was booked into the Kings County Jail on suspicion of a felony count of burglary, but posted his $15,000 bail and was released that same day.

An investigation into the burglary is still ongoing at this time.

McCabe previously appeared in the news in 2002, when a voluntary manslaughter suit was filed against him in the shooting death of a Hanford man who apparently engaged in a struggle with the officer during a routine traffic stop. When suspect Peter Contreras, 24, climbed back into his vehicle, McCabe shot him once in the chest and killed him.

It was later ruled by a Kings County Superior Court judge that McCabe was acting in self-defense when he fired his weapon and that the charges against the man would be dismissed.

Following this ruling, the family of the victim filed a wrongful death suit in U.S. District Court naming the City of Lemoore, Police Chief Kimberly Morrell, and Officer Jeffrey McCabe as responsible for their loss.

McCabe also claimed to have suffered emotional distress and financial loss during these proceedings and filed a claim against the county for his trouble, which was then rejected by the Board of Supervisors.

McCabe was employed with the Lemoore Police Department from 1999 until 2007, when he submitted his resignation.

The reporter can be reached at 583-2425.

(Aug. 6, 2008)