LAPD officer convicted of stealing from Surf and Sand Resort

A Los Angeles Police Department officer was convicted Monday for stealing from the Surf and Sand Resort in October 2011.

Jeffry Paul Quinton, 47, of Anaheim Hills pleaded guilty to one felony count of grand theft and a felony count of commercial burglary, according to a Orange County District Attorney press release.

Quinton was sentenced to 120 days in jail, three years formal probation and restitution. He starts his jail sentence on Oct. 12, District Attorney spokeswoman Farrah Emami said.

Quinton had been moonlighting as a security guard at the luxury Laguna Beach resort and had access to “lost and found” records, where staff logged recovered items and secured them in a safe, the district attorney said.

On Oct. 17, 2011, hotel staff logged that they had found $2,000 in a hotel room and secured it in a safe. The next day, Quinton changed the $2,000 record in the system to “gold watch,” changed the room number of the hotel room and wrongly logged that the watch had been returned it its owner. He then stole $960 from the safe, the release said.

A couple months later, on Dec. 26, Quinton covered the surveillance camera in the office for several minutes with tape, which is when the district attorney said he stole $680 from a safe deposit box.

On Jan. 24, 2012, he was missing from his shift for more than an hour and nearly $300 in bedding was taken from a locked storage room and put in his car.

Laguna Beach police reviewed the camera footage at the request of the Surf and Sand Resort and learned of the theft.

Quinton was a 21-year LAPD veteran assigned to the Central Division, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Andrew Katz thought Quinton should face a year in jail because he was held to a higher standard due to his position as a police officer, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Glenn Osajima, Quinton’s attorney, said his client acknowledged he made a poor judgement call, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Joanna.clay@latimes.com

Twitter: @joannaclay