LAPD’s Metro Crew Is a Little Red After Losing a Little Blue
The Los Angeles Police Department’s Metropolitan Division, including the Special Weapons and Tactics Team, is acknowledged as the department’s elite crime-fighting unit.
But on Friday evening, Metro officers had to endure what one called “a pretty embarrassing” incident when one of its unmarked squad cars was stolen in the Eastside community of Boyle Heights.
Police cordoned off the area near Folsom and Ficket streets where the late model, light blue Ford was stolen at about 7 p.m., and dispatched helicopters and dog units to Boyle Heights to search for the car.
As the search intensified, with the car’s license number being broadcast to other police agencies, an unidentified off-duty Metro officer just happened to be doing some post-Christmas shopping at a mall near Diamond Bar, about 20 miles east of Boyle Heights, when he spotted the car.
He called Metro to see “if we had a car missing,” said an officer who asked not to be identified. After 55 minutes, Metro had its car back.
A suspect was arrested at the mall at Colima and Brea Canyon roads. None of the officers involved or the suspect was immediately identified.
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