Veteran LAPD officer indicted for prescription drug fraud [Updated]

A 22-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department has been arrested on suspicion of prescription drug fraud after being indicted by a grand jury, officials said Monday.

Officer Joseph Caseres, who was assigned to the Rampart Area Station, faces nine criminal counts for alleged criminal violations in which he "engaged in 'doctor shopping' and fraudulently obtained narcotic prescription medications," an LAPD statement said. 

Caseres, 46, surrendered without incident Monday to agents from the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, and investigators with LAPD’s Special Operations Division, Workers’ Compensation Fraud Unit. [Updated at 5:40 p.m.: Officials had earlier given Caseres' age as 37.]

Caseres was booked at the Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail and is being held on $20,000 bail. He has been placed on paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of both the criminal and administrative investigations.

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 -- Andrew Blankstein (Twitter: @anblanx)