Former Officer Gets Fine for Fake Report
A former Torrance police officer was fined $2,250 Thursday in Los Angeles Municipal Court and placed on probation for one year, six weeks after he pleaded no contest to charges that he filed a false police report and obstructed an investigation.
Timothy Pappas, 27, was fired from the Torrance Police Department after he shot an unarmed construction worker, Patrick J. Coyle, and then gave false reports about the incident to superiors.
Pappas said at the time of the shooting in May, 1988, that he fired his gun when Coyle moved suddenly as if to reach for a weapon, police reports say. Two backup officers supported that account for a time but one, Officer Timothy Thornton, eventually told superiors the story was a lie and that Pappas fired the gun accidentally, the reports say.
Thornton was given immunity from prosecution in exchange for providing information about the incident.
The third officer at the scene, Mark Holden, is fighting allegations he conspired to obstruct justice and to falsely charge another with a crime.
Holden’s preliminary hearing began Thursday in Los Angeles Municipal Court and is scheduled to continue Dec. 19.
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