Encinitas Deputy Arrested

A deputy who works out of the was on paid leave Tuesday following her arrest on suspicion of obstructing a rape investigation in Riverside County.   

Lauren Thompson McAllister, 37, an investigator with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, was arrested Sunday night at her Temecula home.  

Patrol personnel were called to the house in the 32900 block of Poppy Street about 8:30 p.m. to investigate a reported sexual assault, according to Riverside County Sheriff's Sgt. Kevin McDonald.

A 26-year-old woman met arriving deputies and told them a man had raped her inside the two-story residence, McDonald said. When deputies attempted to search the home, McAllister allegedly tried to stop them, prompting them to arrest her, according to the sergeant. Police then located the alleged assailant, 34-year-old Matthew Joseph Frembling of Murrieta, and took him into custody without incident. 

McAllister was booked on suspicion of felony obstruction of peace officers, being an accessory to a felony and misdemeanor resisting arrest. She posted $5,000 bail and was released from Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta on Monday morning. 

McAllister will remain on administrative leave pending completion of an internal investigation by her supervisors, according to San Diego County Sheriff's spokeswoman Melissa Aquino. Frembling was booked on suspicion of forcible rape and sexual penetration with a foreign object and was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail at the Murrieta jail. The nature of the suspect's relationship to McAllister or the alleged victim, if any, was not disclosed.

City News Service contributed to this report.