LAPD officer pleads guilty to car theft in Orange County

A 24-year LAPD veteran pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing a pickup from an Orange County car dealership in 2019.

Matthew Calleros, 46, of Whitter, pleaded guilty to felony vehicle theft, forgery of registration or license plates and false impersonation in addition to three misdemeanor counts of unauthorized disclosure of DMV records, according to Orange County Superior Court records.

He was sentenced to 180 days in jail, two years probation and ordered to pay an undisclosed amount in restitution, court records show.

He is expected to report to jail by Aug. 26.

The charges stem from the theft reported in October 2019 when Calleros drove a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado off the lot of B&J Car Co. in Orange after sending a salesman away to look at the vehicle’s history.

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After the vehicle was reported stolen, he posed as a different LAPD police officer to inform the department’s Vehicle Warrant Unit that the pickup had been recovered.

Prosecutors said Calleros affixed the stolen vehicle with a license plate from a 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and used a confidential law enforcement database to check both license plate numbers.

Calleros was arrested at LAPD’s Hollenbeck Division station, where he had been assigned, in November 2020 after an investigation by LAPD and Orange Police Department.

The stolen pickup was located in the station’s parking lot, prosecutors said.

The LAPD did not immediately respond to questions regarding Calleros’ employment. The department said last year that he had been suspended and stripped of his police powers.

He was charged in February 2021 and initially pleaded not guilty.