US: Two Los Angeles officers ignore robbery call to play Pokémon Go, fired from duty

Two police officials with Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in the United States were dismissed for neglecting a robbery call in order to play a game of Pokémon Go, according to recently disclosed court records. Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell are the two Los Angeles officers, who were dispatched to a robbery in progress at a departmental store called Macy's in southwest LA, US, with "multiple suspects," but they did not respond to radio calls, The Guardian reported. 

According to the investigation, Lozano and Mitchell had heard the radio call but decided to overlook it in favour of chasing after a nearby Snorlax, a Pokémon. This particular event happened in April 2017, but the details were only disclosed on Friday by an appeals court. Following a probe, Lozano and Mitchell were fired from their position, as they were engaged in "unprofessional and embarrassing" conduct that had betrayed the public's confidence. However, they appealed and their dismissal was upheld by the court. 

As per the Sky News, the DICVS recording "captured them wilfully abdicating their duty to assist a commanding officer's response to a robbery in progress and playing a Pokémon mobile phone game while on duty". 

Car's video system recorded Los Angeles officers talking about Pokémon Go

The incident came to light when a digital in-car video system (DICVS) recorded them talking about the game was found. Mitchell had managed to catch the Snorlax Pokémon character before the pair went to an area where the Togetic avatar had been observed, according to the video system in their car. Both Lozano and Mitchell were able to capture the Togetic upon their arrival, The Guardian reported.  

According to court filings, when a police captain reached the site of the robbery, and he noticed another patrol car was parked nearby and questioned why the Los Angeles officers had not replied, so he answered it himself, Associated Press reported. 

The court documents also revealed that the officers alleged that they did not hear the radio call for help, but on the patrol vehicle recordings, they were heard debating whether or not to react, with Lozano stating, "Ah, screw it." Citing the court document, Associated Press reported that the police officials then spent the next 20 minutes talking about the GPS-based Pokémon augmented reality mobile game and travelling to various sites to "catch" virtual animals. 

Furthermore, the officers claimed that the tape should not have been utilised in their disciplinary hearing and that the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act had been violated. The court was not convinced by their claims, The Guardian reported.  

(Image: AP)