L.A. school police officer Jeffrey Stenroos charged with four felonies in shooting hoax [Updated]
Los Angeles County prosecutors filed four felony charges Thursday against an L.A. Unified school police officer whose tale of being shot by an assailant led to a dragnet that closed seven square miles of the San Fernando Valley.
Jeffrey Stenroos, 30, faces charges including perjury, filing a false insurance claim, preparing false evidence and filing a false police report in connection with the Jan. 19 hoax, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the L.A. County district attorney's office.
He also was charged with a misdemeanor of falsely reporting an emergency. If convicted on all counts, Stenroos faces a maximum sentence of five years in state prison.
[Updated at 12:11 p.m.: “The actions of Officer Stenroos put into motion a series of events that wasted valuable department resources, negatively impacted thousands of schoolchildren and their families, and disrupted the lives of a countless number of people," LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said.]
[Updated at 1:15 p.m.: With the filing of charges, the L.A. Unified School District has begun the process of dismissing Stenroos. "Mr. Stenroos is neither a good example of the men and women who serve as members of our school police force, nor is he a good example for our students," said Supt. Ramon C. Cortines. "Lying is never acceptable."]
Stenroos, who is free on $20,000 bail, was arrested in January in connection with the hoax that brought Woodland Hills and surrounding communities to a standstill amid a lockdown of nine schools that left 9,000 students shut for hours in their classrooms.
The eight-year veteran of the Los Angeles Unified school police force told authorities he had been shot in his bullet-proof vest just outside the El Camino Real High School campus by a white man in his 40s wearing jeans and a bomber jacket.
Those suspicions grew, sources said, when Stenroos ducked follow-up interviews that had been requested by detectives, according to sources familiar with the investigation. At one point, Stenroos checked himself into Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valenica, complaining of chest pains.
A week after the shooting, Stenroos confessed his original story was a hoax, telling investigators he had accidentally fired his weapon, according to LAPD officials with knowledge of the case. He was arrested on suspicion of filing a false police report, a felony offense.
LAPD officials said it was unclear how Stenroos fabricated the shooting and what, if anything, actually happened at the school.
Sources have said Stenroos' chest had bruising similar to what would be caused by a bullet hitting his protective vest, but they were not sure of the circumstances, including whether any shooting actually occurred next to the school.
In the end, LAPD officials have said they may never know exactly what happened, but the conflicting information relayed by Stenroos to authorities gives prosecutors ample evidence to charge him.
RELATED:
LAPD seeks felony charges against school police officer who faked shooting
Officer's story of being shot was inconsistent from the beginning
Outrage, disappointment over police officer who allegedly lied about being shot
-- Andrew Blankstein
Photo: Los Angeles Unified School District Police Officer Jeff Stenroos. Credit: LAUSD / Associated Press
EDITOR'S PICKS:
Not close to enough of a penalty (he disrupted the safety and well being of thousands of people). He should be charged with attempt of murder on a police officer. I think he should get life for this crime, if someone else had shot him, they would have been looking at 25 to life.
Posted by: Adam | March 10, 2011 at 01:51 PM
If he accidentally fired his gun and admitted it he still might have a job.
Posted by: obama | March 10, 2011 at 01:51 PM
Why is this guy being charged with 4 felonies when a recidivist criminal scumbag would be charged with a single misdemeanor for the same actions?
Posted by: Joe | March 10, 2011 at 01:56 PM
Overkill.
Posted by: john | March 10, 2011 at 02:18 PM
To Adam: I look forward to reading the same comment when Critical Mass decides to bring downtown traffic to a halt for one of their friday night rides. I too think that anyone who does something that inconveniences thousands of people should get life in prison.
Posted by: Joe | March 10, 2011 at 03:04 PM
I hope he goes away for a loooong time. He disrupted thousands of lives for his lies. LAPD over reacted and searched everyone in a 7 mile radius, communist russia style. Parents weren't allowed to pick up their kids, because apparently LAPD knows better than every parent what to do with their kids. So kids were forcibly held against their wills and their parents wills while this hoax was perpetrated.
Rot in jail scumbag.
Posted by: Kyle Parker | March 10, 2011 at 03:31 PM
Sensless. Prosecutors will throw the book at him, but a real murderer gets less time.
Posted by: catransplant | March 11, 2011 at 06:13 AM
This should look real good on his "next" resume....they should also go after the cost to the City for this hoax...it must have been millions.
Posted by: impoundguy, Los Angeles, Ca. | March 11, 2011 at 07:49 AM
The excop got what he deserve. He gave all those who were the badge with digntity and respect a bad name.
Posted by: tenfifteen | March 17, 2011 at 08:41 AM