A Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy admitted to fabricating a story about being shot at by a sniper while unloading a patrol car outside a sheriff’s station Wednesday.
But almost a week later, Angel Reinosa has yet to be charged.
Investigators became suspicious when Angel Reinosa showed up to the emergency room with holes in his shirt but no visible bullet wounds. The 21-year-old deputy later admitted to cutting up the shirt to make it look as if he had been shot.
However, the fabrication sparked a massive manhunt inside a nearby four-story apartment building, only for deputies to come away with nothing but a pellet gun.
According to the Los Angeles Times:
“Angry. Embarrassed. Furious. Unbelievable. Ashamed. These are some of the words circulating our station’s hallways since last night as our deputies try to wrap their minds around last night’s press conference surrounding the incident that occurred in our parking lot on Wednesday, August 21, 2019.”
Reinosa, 21, claimed he was struck in the chest about 2:50 p.m. Wednesday as he walked to his car in the employee parking lot at the Lancaster station, authorities said. At the time, investigators believed Reinosa’s bulletproof vest had saved his life but that a bullet had grazed his shoulder.
But much of the deputy’s statement “was self-serving and didn’t make a whole lot of sense,” said Sheriff’s Capt. Kent Wegener. No bullets were recovered from the scene.
“There were many things that didn’t add up,” Wegener said.
Reinosa has been with the agency for only a year and was still going through training. Despite being a rookie, he already developed a reputation for dishonesty, according to the L.A. Times.
He is at least the second cop within a month to admit to fabricating an attack on himself.
As of this report, Reinosa has not been fired or arrested but that will likely change soon. Listen to the press conference in the video above and read our report below from 2015 about cops who fabricate attacks on themselves.
