Ex-Officer Charged With Embezzling From Police Assn. : Crime: Authorities say he stole about $36,000 from Fountain Valley organization, which he headed. He had won a Medal of Valor for actions in controversial arrest.

A former Fountain Valley police officer and Medal of Valor recipient was arrested Tuesday and charged with embezzling $36,000 from the Fountain Valley Police Officers Assn.

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Kevin D. Arnold, 34, of Mission Viejo pleaded not guilty to a single count of felony grand theft in Municipal Court here. He was released on his own recognizance and ordered to return Nov. 23 for a pretrial hearing.

Arnold’s attorney, John D. Barnett, said the former officer would have no comment on the case beyond his plea.

If convicted, Arnold will face a maximum sentence of three years in prison.

Arnold “will be treated in the same manner that anyone would who committed a similar offense,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Matthew Anderson. “There will not be any favoritism in this case” because it involves a former police officer.

Last spring, an informal audit by members of the association revealed the loss from several savings accounts, Anderson said. Arnold, an 11-year veteran of the force, began serving as president of the organization in May, 1993.

On July 20, when the district attorney’s office announced it was beginning a criminal probe of the loss, Arnold was placed on paid administrative leave from the force.

On Aug. 31, Arnold was terminated “after an internal affairs investigation substantiated his involvement in misconduct in this matter,” said Sgt. Dann Bean, a department spokesman. “Our investigation was purely administrative and not criminal.”

The district attorney’s investigation revealed that between March, 1993, and May, 1994, about $36,000 was embezzled from the Fountain Valley Police Officers Assn., according to Anderson.

Neither Police Chief Elvin Miali nor Detective Jim McNeff, the current association president, would comment on the case.

“Morale is pretty good around here,” Bean said. “We put it behind us, and everybody seems to be in good spirits. We have a job to do here and we’re going to continue to do it.”

For four years, until 1994, Arnold served as the department’s canine officer.

Arnold received the Medal of Valor in 1990 for his actions in a controversial shootout in 1983.

In that incident, while serving as a reserve officer, Arnold shot a burglary suspect six times after a short foot chase. Arnold was shot once in the ear with his own gun.

The suspect, Michael Wayde Mohon, was charged with burglary and the attempted murder of Arnold, but used a smuggled gun to escape from the Orange County Jail in 1985 before he could be tried. He was captured by Arizona authorities eight days later but managed to escape a second time. After being featured on “America’s Most Wanted” and “Unsolved Mysteries,” Mohon was captured in Alabama in 1989 and returned to Orange County.

The attempted murder charge against Mohon was dropped in 1991 for lack of evidence. Mohon then unsuccessfully sued Arnold for using excessive force, citing other shootings the officer had been involved in since 1983, including a fatal one in which a suspect was shot 10 times.

Arnold re-enacted the shooting for a series of training films prepared by the Los Angeles Police Department, which were used statewide at police academies.

“We’re not going to do anything about the video” because of Arnold’s arrest, Bean said. “We would have no reason to pull that video.”