Saturday, January 29, 2011
The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to sue a police officer accused of creating a story about being shot by someone at El Camino High School, causing a costly search for the assailant by police.
The officer, Jeffrey Stenroos, who had worked for the Los Angeles Unified School District police for eight years, caused thousands of students to remain on lockdown for hours.
Traffic officers, county sheriffs, California Highway Patrol, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were involved in the search. The council voted to ask Stenroos to pay the city for the cost of the search. Council president Eric Garcetti said, “We had thousands of dollars spent on police overtime.”
Thursday, the Los Angeles Police chief announced Stenroos’ claim was false and he was later arrested and released on $20,000 (€14,600) bail, charged with filing a false police report.
Stenroos allegedly mishandled a firearm and shot himself in his bulletproof vest, according to an anonymous police official.