🎯LAPD Officers Ignore Robbery to Catch Snorlax in Pokémon GO

According to a recent court document, LAPD officers Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell were fired after they voluntarily denied a call for help for an ongoing robbery in an attempt to catch mythical creatures, Snorlax and Togetic, in the mobile game. Pokemon GO.

The incident took place in April 2017 at the Crenshaw Mall in Los Angeles and was detected by the In-Dash Digital Video System (DICVS), ultimately leading to their termination. Both officers filed a petition, citing misuse of DICVS to record private conversations; however, the court upheld the dismissal of both officers.

LAPD officers fired after ignoring theft to hunt Pokemon

Official court records indicate the officers were both on duty at the time of the current robbery. While several other officers responded to a call from the patrol commander, Captain Darnell Davenport, Lozano and Mitchell did not respond.

LAPD Officers Ignore Robbery to Catch Snorlax in Pokémon GO — Two LAPD officers were fired for catching a Snorlax instead of fighting crime. (Photo: The Pokémon Company)

After consulting with Senior Sergeant Gomez, who asked if they had heard a call for "reinforcement at the Crenshaw Mall for a 211 [robbery]," Mitchell lied and said he hadn't. . Lozano said he heard the captain was "Code 6 at the Crenshaw Mall, but he didn't hear a request for backup."

However, upon investigating the DICVS footage, the recordings revealed that shortly after Captain Davenport's Code 6 aired, Lozano and Mitchell engaged in communications about whether to respond, with Lozano later responding, “Aw, shit. »

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Just five minutes later, Mitchell alerted Lozano that a Snorlax "just appeared" at "46th and Leimert", and the officers then discussed their strategy for catching the Pokémon.

"For approximately the next 20 minutes, the DICVS captured [the officers] discussing Pokémon GO as they traveled to various locations where the virtual creatures apparently appeared on their cellphones," court documents said.

While the police tried to appeal to the court to reinstate them, their requests were denied.

Court documents revealed that “they abused their position to play games while on duty and use public resources and ignored their official law enforcement duties putting others at risk”.

Official court records are freely accessible to the public here.