Court dismisses appeal of two firefighters fired for playing ‘Pokemon Go’ during robbery
Los Angeles police fired the two after it was discovered that instead of answering calls about a violent incident, they traveled around the city to catch Pokemon
The California Court of Appeals ruled that the dismissal of the two officers who served in Los Angeles was justified, after playing Pokemon Go instead of responding to a call for a robbery.
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Los Angeles police chiefs fired Luis Luzano and Eric Mitchell for misconduct in 2017, and the court ruled the move was justified. This was reported in Sacramento B on Monday.
On April 15, 2017, cameras from the police patrol car caught the two discussing how to catch the Pokemon Snorlak and the rare Pokémon Togtic, while ignoring a report of several people who were under robbery at the Macy’s store in the Crenshaw area.
A police officer who arrived at the scene of the robbery saw another patrol car parked near the area, and wondered why the police did not respond. This is what the court documents say.
Officers claimed they did not hear the call on the radio, but in recordings from the patrol car they were heard discussing whether to respond to the incident, and Lusano could be heard saying, “Oh, leave it at that.” Afterwards, the two cops are seen continuing to play for 20 minutes, and traveling to different places in order to capture the virtual creatures.
The officers were fired after a police rights council unanimously ruled that the two had behaved in an “unprofessional and embarrassing” manner, violating public trust.
In response, the two appealed to the court to quash their dismissals on the grounds, inter alia, that the recordings of their private conversations were used as unlawful evidence, but the Supreme Court judge dismissed the petition.
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