LAPD seeks felony charges against school police officer who faked shooting
Los Angeles Police Department detectives have submitted to prosecutors their investigation into a school police officer whose shooting hoax set off a massive manhunt, Chief Charlie Beck said Thursday.
Jeff Stenroos, an officer with the Los Angeles Unified School Police Department, initially said he had been shot on Jan. 19 after confronting a man he caught trying to break into vehicles near El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills.
The incident sparked a huge police response that brought much of the west San Fernando Valley to a standstill for hours. As hundreds of officers searched futilely for the gunman, area schools were locked down and residents were kept from leaving or going to their homes. The operation cost the cash-strapped department hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime and other expenses, Beck said.
Police initially believed Stenroos' story because he suffered bruised ribs and there were indications that his bulletproof vest had absorbed the impact of a gunshot. But inconsistencies in the officer's story led LAPD investigators to grow suspicious. Sources said Stenroos started avoiding detectives as they attempted to conduct follow-up interviews.
When detectives finally caught up with Stenroos more than a week after the alleged shooting, he confessed to fabricating the story, according to LAPD officials with knowledge of the case. He was arrested on suspicion of filing a false police report, a felony offense.
Beck, who said he was "furious" about the hoax, and other city officials reacted with unusual vitriol toward a fellow law enforcement officer. It remains unclear how Stenroos fabricated the shooting and what, if anything, actually happened at the school. Beck has declined to detail what Stenroos has told investigators, because, he said, "I don't believe a word he says."
"We are very desirous of a felony filing," Beck said at news conference Thursday.
A decision by prosecutors in the Los Angeles County district attorney's office on whether to file criminal charges is not expected for several days.
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Outrage, disappointment over police officer who allegedly lied about being shot
LAUSD police officer admitted fabricating shooting story, source says
-- Joel Rubin at LAPD headquarters
Photo: This undated photo provided by the Los Angeles Unified School District shows Officer Jeff Stenroos, who was arrested Feb. 1, 2011, on suspicion of filing a false police report claiming he had been shot by a car burglar. Credit: LAUSD / Associated Press
EDITOR'S PICKS:
still chump change compaired to other waste.
Waste some more money and run him through the courts
Posted by: Rob | March 03, 2011 at 02:12 PM
Please post his mugshot not his photo in a uniform that he has disgraced. We should see him in jail orange.
Posted by: twobeers | March 03, 2011 at 02:56 PM
What a jerk! This is exactly how innocent people get locked up everyday.
Posted by: Hollywood Kev | March 03, 2011 at 03:01 PM
He should be held to the same letter of the law as anyone else, if not a higher level being an officer there to "protect and serve!" Had any other individual, not in the department, any civilian would have charges brought upon them!
Posted by: Michael Castellanos | March 03, 2011 at 03:10 PM
How unusual a police officer lying, that only happens everyday in this city. When will people learn that cops are like everyone else, they lie when it is convenient to do so, to cover their wrong doings. Their is nothing special about a cops word, so stop behaving like a cops word is better than someone elses.
Posted by: Searcher | March 03, 2011 at 03:38 PM
This man is a fool and I dont know what is taking the district attorneys office so long to file charges. I hope that he gets the book thrown at him. Let this be a lesson to everyone how possible it is for the police to lie and fabricate stories to suit themselves. Chief Charlie Beck is complaining about the cost of the reaction to the shooting which was overkill anyways. If Toby got shot there would not be such a reaction. Cops serve themselves as usual.
Posted by: Hugh G. Rekshon | March 03, 2011 at 05:40 PM
I guess this blows the "cops cover up for each other" theory out of the water
They want this dude in prison, just for lying!
Posted by: u know | March 03, 2011 at 07:29 PM
Sad case. A ruined career, misuse of police man power and a pain to the public. No mercy will be shown here.
Posted by: Big Mike 42 | March 03, 2011 at 07:49 PM
Funny how the LAPD chooses to "selectively" provide information about certain cases.
Posted by: KD | March 03, 2011 at 08:11 PM
this should show people just how there is no law in LA county.the police put people in jail every day with no investigation,no proof,nothing.why do the people of LA have no concern about there public servants.does any one care
Posted by: frankie | March 05, 2011 at 11:08 PM