Failed Cop’s Life a Mystery to His Mother

The mother of a once-decorated police officer slain by FBI agents who branded him a serial bank robber acknowledged Wednesday that much of her son’s life is a mystery.

“We’re just trying to keep things going right now,” said Lenita Arnold, the mother of former Fountain Valley officer Kevin D. Arnold. “There is a lot that’s coming out about Kevin that’s raising a lot of questions.”

But she was sure of at least one thing about her 34-year-old son, whose life deteriorated last year after his arrest and conviction for embezzling nearly $40,000 from the police officers’ union he once headed. Arnold, she said, was troubled and desperately needed help he never received.

“Some things with these police departments have to change,” said the mother, who lives in Temecula. “They have to learn how to recognize stress and get people the help they need.”

News of Arnold’s hidden life has also devastated friends and former associates, who on Wednesday discussed his deepening money problems and battles with alcoholism but said they were shocked to learn he had been accused of holding up 12 banks.

An FBI affidavit released Wednesday shows that Arnold--fired after his conviction and having to pay restitution to his former employer--somehow had the money to purchase a new 1994 Ford Escort from an Irvine auto dealership during the time he was accused of robbing banks.

It happened to be the same car that Arnold used as his getaway vehicle in robbing 11 banks in Orange County and one near San Diego during a one-year period beginning in June, 1994, at the same time he was under suspension in Fountain Valley, according to the FBI.

It was also the car he was in Monday when FBI agents killed him with a single shot to the chest in the culmination of a confrontation in the parking lot of a Mission Viejo shopping center.

FBI spokesman Gary Morley said Wednesday that the agency has begun an inquiry into all aspects of Arnold’s life including the circumstances leading to his death--but declined further comment.

In his plea agreement with Orange County Municipal Court, Arnold had agreed to alcoholism counseling and was attending classes in what was described as a 12-step recovery program at Saddleback Valley Community Church.

A friend, Gary Hoeflich, and law-enforcement sources who asked not to be quoted by name described Arnold as an alcoholic who sought recovery in a program that church officials say addresses a full range of addictive behaviors, including drug and alcohol abuse and even post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Arnold’s attorney said his client was involved in four officer-involved shootings during his time as a member of the Fountain Valley Police Department from 1984 to 1994, and that one of them--for which he received the Medal of Valor in 1989--left him traumatized.

Hoeflich, a close family friend and the owner of a pet supply company in Fountain Valley, said Wednesday that Arnold told him of the drinking problem he had developed as a police officer, born of multiple stresses and long hours.

Lately, however, Arnold told friends he had managed to stop drinking, helped by his regular attendance at the recovery program, said Hoeflich, who helped Arnold find work as a salesman for a pet food company after his firing last August from the police force.

“Celebrate Recovery is a Christ-centered, 12-step recovery program that helps chemically dependent individuals, as well as those dealing with sexual abuse issues, eating disorders, co-dependency and relationship problems and, yes, post-traumatic stress syndrome,” said Pastor John Baker, who runs the program but who declined to discuss Arnold’s participation.

*

Arnold was sentenced to be confined in his home for six months after he pleaded guilty Dec. 14, 1994, to embezzling $36,229 from the Fountain Valley Police Officers Assn. between March, 1993, and May, 1994. FBI records show the first bank robbery occurred a month later.

The detention order said Arnold was permitted to work during daytime hours, undergo weekly psychological counseling and attend the recovery sessions at the church each Friday night. He was also allowed to attend Sunday services, according to court records.

Funeral services for Arnold, who was married and the father of four children, will be held at the same Mission Viejo church at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Arnold was ordered to pay restitution to the police union and had paid back about $15,000, Fountain Valley Police Chief Elvin G. Miali said Wednesday.

Arnold’s home confinement was supervised by a company called Sentinel Orange County, which kept track of his movements by using an electronic monitoring device strapped to his ankle. Such a device is never used as an alarm system, said company spokesman Kent Hazlett; it simply logs a person’s comings and goings.

“It transmits a signal from the person’s phone line, which is connected to a central computer, which lets us know when he leaves and when he returns,” Hazlett said. “It’s simply wrong to say that it’s like an alarm system for cars. It tells us when they leave, and when they return, and that’s all.”

Such devices are commonly used in cases of house arrest, which Hazlett said almost always involve criminals convicted of lesser offenses and white-collar crime, such as embezzlement.