Two LAPD officers fired for playing Pokmon Go while on duty • Eurogamer.net

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All for that annoying Snorlax.

Newly released documents reveal that two Los Angeles police officers have been fired for playing Pokémon Go rather than responding to an ongoing burglary.

As revealed in court documents (and cited by a deputy), police officers Luis Lozano and Eric Mitchell were fired for “deliberately abandoning their duty to assist the commanding officer in responding to an ongoing burglary and playing a Pokémon game on a mobile phone while on duty.”

The incident occurred in a Los Angeles shopping mall in April 2017. A patrol supervisor asked Lozano and Mitchell to respond in response to an apparent robbery, but they ignored the call and instead ventured to arrest Snorlax.

The in-vehicle digital video system (DICVS) recorded the officers’ conversations as they discovered Snorlax and discussed their strategy for capturing it.

“For about 20 minutes, DICVS was captured [Mitchell and Lozano] While discussing Pokémon as they drove to various locations where seemingly virtual creatures appeared on their mobile phones, “Read the court documents.” On their way to the Snorlax position, Officer Mitchell alerted Officer Lozano that “Togetic just appeared.”

The officers captured Snorlax and then moved on to Togetic. “Holy crap, man,” said Mitchell. “This thing is fighting the bullshit out of me.” “Holy crap. Finally… the men would be so jealous.”

After the incident, Mitchell and Lozano lied about what had happened, claiming that they were taking “photos” of Pokemon and that the game was more of a “social media event” that was not “advertised as a game.”

In previous court filings, the Rights Council stated that “playing Pokémon Go showed total disregard for society, wasted resources, violated public trust, and was unprofessional and embarrassing to management.” As the officers lied, “their behavior reflects gross negligence, cowardice, lack of thought and deceit.”

Two Los Angeles police officers lost their appeal on January 7, 2022.

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