Officer allegedly deceived to get benefits

The LAPD arrested one of its own Tuesday after discovering that he was working as a celebrity bodyguard while off duty for injuries, the department said.

Det. Gilbert Barrow, 37, was arrested at the Rampart station after a department surveillance team found that he had side jobs while receiving time off with pay because of the injuries, said Sgt. Lee Sands.

Barrow, a 12-year LAPD veteran, was booked on suspicion of grand theft and attempted perjury after the district attorney’s office filed charges of insurance fraud and attempted perjury against him in connection with a workers’ compensation claim.

“The taxpayers of Los Angeles provide excellent benefits for police officers,” Police Chief William J. Bratton said in a statement. “We take seriously any misuse of those benefits and pursue criminal charges when appropriate.”

Barrow’s arrest culminated a 16-month investigation into the detective’s activities, Sands said. He is the fifth Los Angeles Police Department employee accused of trying to defraud the LAPD over benefits in the last two years.

The detective was recuperating from on-duty injuries to a knee and foot when his supervisors began to suspect that he had prolonged his off-duty recovery time, Sands said.

Investigators with the LAPD’s Professional Standards Bureau conducted several surveillances and saw Barrow working side jobs while he was supposed to be recuperating, Sands said.

The attempted perjury charge stems from statements Barrow made during a deposition given related to his injuries, the sergeant said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Renee Korn said that the alleged fraud occurred between Sept. 26, 2005, and this month and that the alleged attempted perjury happened Jan. 31, 2006. Korn said Barrow was employed by a security company as a bodyguard for celebrities and VIPs while he was off work and being paid on the basis of having been injured on duty.

He could face a maximum of five years in prison if convicted.

Hank Hernandez, general counsel for the Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents officers, said it is important to know all the facts and not rush to judgment. But “like all community members, we find it disturbing when an officer is accused of abusing” the public trust and “commits a crime against those he is sworn to protect,” he said.

According to the LAPD, three employees were fired and one employee was suspended for 15 days in cases related to abuse of benefits in the last two years. Prosecutors charged one of those, an officer, last year.

Barrow was being held in lieu of $30,000.

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richard.winton@latimes.com