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LAUSD Police Officer Stenroos Charged With Multiple Felonies
A group of police officers search outside El Camino Real High School in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Jeffrey Stenroos, the Los Angeles Unified School District police officer who allegedly faked his own shooting outside El Camino Real High School last month, has been formally charged with multiple felonies, including perjury and filing a false insurance claim, say the Los Angeles Police Department.
The LAPD's Robbery Homicide Division have been working on the case since shortly after the January 19th incident, when they began to suspect the gunman authorities conducted an exhaustive and comprehensive search for over two days didn't actually exist. During the course of the search following the reported shooting, El Camino Real High School, as well as other local schools, were placed on lockdown, and the neighborhood cordoned off.
Stenroos took what eventually became known as a "hoax" as far as to provide LAPD with details for a sketch of the imaginary suspect. A $100,000 reward was offered for information leading to the arrest of the suspect. During the investigation Stenroos eventually said his gun "accidentally went off."
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck speaks on today's filing of charges:
“The actions of Officer Stenroos put into motion a series of events that wasted valuable Department resources, negatively impacted thousands of school children and their families, and disrupted the lives of a countless number of people who were inconvenienced by the perimeter set up to catch a suspect who never existed. Officer Stenroos deserves no leniency and the charges he now faces are more than appropriate after what he put this city through.”
Stenroos was arrested and released on bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned March 23. If convicted on all charges, Stenroos could be sentenced to up to five years in state prison.
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