Man accused of stealing injured Burbank officer’s motorcycle helmet is taken to custody
A 40-year-old Burbank man is being held on $20,000 bail after allegedly stealing a police officer’s motorcycle helmet from the scene of a traffic collision on Sunday.
According to the Burbank Police Department, the $1,200 helmet was recovered on Thursday morning from the East Cedar Avenue home of Ricardo Salvador Miranda, who was subsequently arrested on suspicion of grand theft.
Sgt. Derek Green, a police spokesman, said the helmet was stolen earlier in the week when a motor officer became involved in an on-duty collision at the intersection of San Fernando Boulevard and Verdugo Avenue.
The officer’s department-issued helmet was placed on a nearby bus bench as he was being treated by paramedics.
“After being transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, another Burbank police officer gathered belongings of the injured officer and noticed the motorcycle helmet missing from the bench,” Green said in a statement.
Investigators were able to track down the person suspected of stealing the officer’s helmet after reviewing video footage from both the cameras at the intersection and police body-worn cameras.
A man was seen in the video walking up to the scene of the collision, grabbing the helmet and leaving. A “distinct vehicle associated with the suspect,” later identified as Miranda, was also captured on camera, according to Green.
Miranda is scheduled to be in court on Friday, and the officer injured in the collision is expected to make a full recovery from his injuries.
