Police officers fired for playing Pokémon GO over catching criminals
The police are expected to catch criminals, but two officers from Los Angeles opted to catch a rare Snorlax in Pokémon GO instead. Recently, the two have appealed their “unfair” termination over playing the augmented reality game instead of responding to a robbery.
Back in 2017, Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell were on duty in the LAPD’s Southwest division. Their patrol supervisor tried to radio their unit to ask for backup, but neither of them responded. The pair had claimed that they were in a park with “loud” music, so they didn’t hear the call.
The police car’s video system showed that they were close to the scene during the robbery. Court documents also state that Lozano said to Mitchell, ‘I don’t want to be his help,’ and Mitchel later told Lozano that Snorlax had “just popped up” on the game.
The court documents also read that the officers were “discussing Pokémon as they drove to different locations where the virtual creatures apparently appeared on their mobile phones.”
They also happened to secure another rare Pokémon, Togetic, while ignoring the request for back up. Mitchell even said, ‘Holy crap, man. This thing is fighting the crap out of me… Got ‘em. Holy crap. Finally. The guys are going to be so jealous.’
Lozano and Mitchell were fired from the LAPD in 2018 after being charged with multiple counts of misconduct. The appellate court dismissed their petition and upheld their firing last January 7. They also took their case to the California Supreme Court, but it was dismissed last April 20.
Banner: Reuters/CG Trader
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Source: we the pvblic
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