Two LAPD officers arrested, accused of false workers comp claims
Two Los Angeles police officers are being disciplined after department investigators allegedly found the two had lied under oath during their workers’ compensation claims.
Officer Ralph Mendoza, 44, was relieved of duty after surrendering to authorities Wednesday and was booked on suspicion of felony workers compensation fraud and grand theft. He was freed Thursday on $40,000 bail.
Mendoza is a 13-year veteran of the force who was last assigned to patrol in the department’s Hollenbeck Division covering Boyle Heights and Montecito Heights, among other neighborhoods.
Authorities claim Mendoza falsified medical documents.
Mendoza’s future lies in how the department’s Board of Rights handles his appeal. His pay stops within the month, officials said.
The second officer, John Hall, is still employed by the department but has been ordered not to report for duty, officials said. He remains in an earlier stage of the investigative process, said LAPD Sgt. Barry Montgomery.
Hall, 45, was assigned to home during the investigation and has yet to receive a hearing date to begin the process of cutting off his pay.
Authorities say Hall, a 19-year veteran with the department who was last assigned to the Emergency Services Division, lied during a deposition related to his injury claim. Hall surrendered to authorities Wednesday and was booked on suspicion of workers compensation fraud, insurance fraud, grand theft and attempted perjury. He bail was set at $80,000.
“Public trust is at the very core of the police profession, and when that trust is violated we must employ every measure to restore it,” said Police Chief Charlie Beck in a statement. “I am troubled whenever our officers are accused of violating that trust. As the chief, it is my duty to ensure that we fully investigate these cases of alleged misconduct and to take appropriate action when the misconduct is found to be true.”
[Updated at 3 p.m., Dec. 12: Prosecutors charged Hall with two counts of insurance fraud, and perjury and grand theft. Mendoza was charged with insurance fraud and grand theft. ]
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