LAPD Releases Footage Of Officers Ignoring Robbery To Play Pokemon GO

Newly released video shows footage from the 2017 incident in which two Los Angeles Police Department officers ignored a backup call regarding a robbery while playing Pokémon GO.

The video, which was released last Thursday (October 5) due to a public records request, was captured inside the officers' squad car, ABC 7 reports. Officers Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell were heard discussing how to catch a Snorlax and attempting to capture the rare Togetic when the report of the incident at a Macy's in the Crenshaw Mall was made.

Lozano is heard saying, "Ah, screw it," in response to the request, as was previously reported in court filings.

The two officers were fired in 2018 after a police board of rights unanimously ruled that they committed misconduct considered to be "unprofessional and embarrassing" and in violation of the public's trust, the Associated Press reported at the time via KTLA. Lozano and Mitchell appealed the terminations, which led to the case being taken to California appellate court, which ultimately upheld the initial decision.

The incident took place on April 15, 2017, when Lozano and Mitchell, who were partners on a foot beat patrol. A captain reported to have been in seeing distance of the mall at the time of the incident said he noticed a police car parked in a nearby alley.

The captain said he assumed the vehicle might have been a traffic unit or one from another division on a different frequency, so he decided to respond to the call himself, which is when he noticed the vehicle leaving the alley, the documents stated. A sergeant working the watch commander's office described the next few minutes as "chaotic" when he noticed the captain responding while Mitchell and Lozano were located nearby, so he attempted to radio the two officers and request for them to respond to the robbery, but didn't receive a response from their vehicle.

The sergeant said he met with Lozano and Mitchell later in the evening and they claimed to have not heard the call at the time. The sergeant, however, observed dashcam video from the two officers' vehicle and saw they'd received the call, discussed it, and instead decided not to respond, documents confirmed.

A detective who investigated the incident studied audio recordings, which confirmed the officers were playing Pokémon Go when the robbery was in progress. In the audio, Mitchell alerted Lozano that a Snorlax had "just popped up" in the area, which led to the officers discussing how to catch the character and how much time they'd have to do so.

Dashcam then showed Mitchell and Lozano discussing Pokémon as they drove to different locations for about 20 minutes before a Togetic popped up on their way to where the Snorlax was located.

“Don’t run away. Don’t run away,” Mitchell is heard saying while attempting to catch the Snorlax," according to court documents previously obtained by CBS 17. “Got him.”

“Holy crap, man. This thing is fighting the crap out of me,” Michell added. “Holy crap. Finally.”

The two officers initially denied playing the game while on duty before appealing their discharges.