To Protect & Catch Them All: LAPD Officers Played Pokemon Instead of Responding to Robbery Call

Two LAPD officers reportedly ignored a call to respond to a robbery at a local Macy’s to spend time hunting down a Pokémon in the popular mobile game Pokémon Go. Both men were fired from the police department, a decision upheld by an appeals court. According to transcripts from their police cruiser, the duo did capture the popular “Snorlax” character they were chasing at the time of the robbery call.

The Washington Post reports that two LAPD officers, Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell, were called to respond to a robbery at a nearby Macy’s on April 15, 2017. But instead of responding to the call, the officers decided instead to spend around 20 minutes driving around the area hunting a Snorlax Pokémon in the popular mobile game Pokémon Go.

Pokemon Go (Nintendo)

LAPD (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

Lozano and Mitchell were both fired and the decision was upheld in an appeals court on Friday after the two challenged their terminations. The LAPD declined to comment on the decision when contacted by the Post. The lawyer for Lozano and Mitchell, Greg Yacoubian, stated that they were disappointed by the ruling and were including appealing to the state Supreme Court.

Yacoubian alleges that the department failed dot notify his clients that they were being investigated for misconduct in a timely manner. He further argued that the internal dashcam footage captured inside the officers’ police cruiser should not have been permissible as evidence as it was capturing what he calls “private communications.”

These arguments were rejected by the appeals court. LAPD Capt. Darnell Davenport heard a radio call for a robbery in progress at a Macy’s department store involving multiple suspects and promptly called for backup. Lozano and Mitchell alleged in court they never heard this call for backup, but the dash-cam footage from their vehicle shows them hearing and ignoring Davenport’s request for assistance.

In the footage, Lozan states: “I don’t want to be his help,” later adding “screw it.” The dashcam footage also included the officers hunting around the area for the Snorlax Pokémon, which they successfully caught according to the recordings, only to discuss other characters in the game instead of responding to the call for help.
Los Angeles appears to have seen an increase in crime in recent months, with the LAPD at one point advising city residents to simply “cooperate and comply” when being robbed in the city. In a press release, the LAPD stated:

Due to an increase in violent street robberies, Robbery-Homicide Division has become aware of an ongoing crime trend of follow-home robberies. Suspects have been locating victims in Los Angeles, following them, and then committing the robberies as the victim arrives home or at their business. … These crimes have occurred throughout the City of Los Angles as well as neighboring cities. Different suspects have been identified and arrested for these types of crimes.

Breitbart News recently reported on comments made by actor Seth Rogen attempting to downplay the rise in crime in the area. Breitbart News reporter Paul Bois wrote:

Actor and left-wing activist Seth Rogen appeared to downplay crime in Democrat Eric Garcetti’s Los Angeles, dismissing it as a natural consequence of living in a big city.

On Wednesday, YouTuber Casey Neistat lamented that Los Angeles is a “crime-riddled 3rd world shithole” after his cars got broken into, prompting Rogen’s rather unsympathetic response.

“So our cars got robbed this morning because Los Angeles is a crime-riddled 3rd world shithole of a city but tremendous appreciation and gratitude to the hardworking officers at the [LAPD West LA] who not only arrested the motherfucker but they got all of our stolen goods back,” tweeted Neistat.

“Dude I’ve lived here for over 20 years. You’re nuts haha. It’s lovely here. Don’t leave anything valuable in it. It’s called living in a big city,” Seth Rogen replied.

Rogen, whose net worth is estimated at $80 million and who has probably lived in the upscale parts of Los Angeles for several years, then joked that getting robbed can lead to some exciting new treats.

“I can still be mad tho right? feel so violated,” responded Neistat.

“You can be mad but I guess I don’t personally view my car as an extension of myself and I’ve never really felt violated any of the 15 or so times my car was broken into,” replied Rogen. “Once a guy accidentally left a cool knife in my car so if it keeps happening you might get a little treat.”

Read more at the Washington Post here.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at [email protected]