(KTLA) – The Los Angeles Police Department recently released video of two on-duty officers talking about the mobile video game Pokémon Go while ignoring a 2017 robbery call.
The video was released on Oct. 5, 2023, and sheds light on an incident previously described only in department and court records, the LA Times reported.
The video captures former Los Angeles police officers Luis Lozano and Eric Mitchell discussing how to catch Snorlax and trying to capture the rare Togetic in the game, ignoring a report about several people robbing Macy’s in the Crenshaw Mall, Associated Press reports.
A police captain who arrived at the scene saw their patrol car parked nearby and wondered why the officers didn’t respond, saying he should have responded to the call.
The officers claimed they didn’t hear a call for backup over the radio, but a video from the patrol car shows Lozano saying, “Oh, shit,” in reference to the call, according to court records. sawdust
In 2018, the Los Angeles Police Department fired two veterans who served 17 and seven years, respectively, the Times reported. The Police Rights Board unanimously ruled that the two officers committed an “unprofessional and disgraceful” breach of public trust, the Associated Press reported.
The officers appealed the firing, and the case eventually went to the California Court of Appeals, which ultimately upheld a lower court ruling that sided with the police department, saying the officers’ firings were justified.
However, Greg Jakubian, a former attorney for the officers, said his clients were treated “unfairly” and that the LAPD violated its own rules by using private dashcam footage to prove their misconduct. He also alleged that the officers were improperly interviewed without legal or labor representation present, the Times reported.
The video was published on the Internet portal of the Los Angeles police.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
