The hard-to-believe case of police officers Louis Lozan and Eric Mitchell took place in 2017, but both men of the law defended themselves against expulsion in court.
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According to the Vice server, which informed about the case, the appellate court definitively dropped their case from the table only last Friday.
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In April 2017, Los Angeles police received notice of a robbery at one of the stores in Crenshaw Mall.
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Mitchell and Lozan were closest, and the dispatcher informed them of the robbery. According to court documents, both police officers in a police car discussed for a while whether they should accept the report and go to the crime scene.
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Instead, they chose to catch rare Pokémon in the popular Pokémon Go game, where legendary monsters are caught in real places.
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“Over the next twenty minutes, Mitchell and Lozano discussed the Pokémon and traveled to various locations where the Pokémon appeared,” the court file said.
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In the meantime, their colleagues, who were on the scene of the murder, had to go to the place of the robbery.
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Instead of a robber, they caught Snorlax and Togetic
According to the file, Mitchell praised the capture of the rare Snorlax with a triumphant cry, “I have him!”
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Then the brave law enforcers went on a battle with a Pokémon named Togetic. According to the minutes, it was an exhausting duel. “Jesus, man. “That thing is fighting for my life,” Mitchell shouted. After the capture of Togetica, the police left.
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But catching rare Pokémon has not pleased them for too long. Their conversation in the car was recorded and served as the main evidence for their dismissal. In court, however, police pointed to Skelly’s 1975 precedent.
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James Skelly was a police officer who was fired for disciplinary offenses. The California Supreme Court ruled, among other things, that he had been denied the right to a fair trial before disciplinary proceedings were taken and that the police officer was readmitted.
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“The facts in the Skella case showed that although he occasionally drank one or two alcoholic drinks during lunch, did not observe the department’s working hours and had unexcused absences, his behavior did not affect his public service,” the court said.
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“Mitchell and Lozan abused their position to engage in gaming, use public resources and ignore their law enforcement duties during the service, endangering others. Few others harm the public service more, “the Court of Appeal explained.
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