LOS ANGELES _ A sheriff's deputy who allegedly faked being shot by a sniper and was previously investigated for dishonesty by Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials is no longer working for the agency.
Deputy Angel Reinosa, a probationary employee who had been with the Sheriff's Department for a year, became the subject of a criminal investigation last week after he said he was shot by a sniper outside the sheriff's Lancaster Station, a claim that officials said he later admitted was untrue.
Saying he had taken "swift administrative action in the matter," Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced during a news conference Wednesday that Reinosa was no longer employed by the department or the county. He declined to elaborate on the deputy's separation from the agency.
"I am disappointed that this incident occurred and upset that one member's actions has reflected negatively on a department that has a history of service and heroism," he said.
Reinosa, 21, initially told investigators that he had been on his way to his car in the station's parking lot when he was hit by rifle fire from a nearby apartment building. He claimed the protective vest he was wearing stopped a shot to his chest, while another bullet had grazed his shoulder.
The incident sparked a massive response from law enforcement who spent days searching for a phantom gunman. But Reinosa's story quickly unraveled, officials said.
Investigators noted there had been no 911 calls reporting gunfire in the area and no bullets were found in the parking lot. A hole in his shirt that Reinosa said came from a bullet was far too large, multiple sheriff's officials and others with knowledge of the investigation told the Los Angeles Times.
On his own radio call seeking help, Reinosa sounded too calm for someone who had just been shot, let alone a rookie deputy still in his first year on the job, sources say.
By nightfall, even as a massive manhunt for his purported attacker continued, investigators began scrutinizing Reinosa's story. Those early suspicions were borne out late Saturday night, when investigators announced Reinosa had concocted the shooting.
"We are all appalled and disappointed," Villanueva told The Times on Sunday. "We intend to hold the individual responsible for breaking the law and most importantly for betraying the community."
A spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said Wednesday that prosecutors have not received a case from the Sheriff's Department for possible filing consideration.
LASD Homicide Capt. Kent Wegener said the department is still waiting for forensic evidence and is looking into hours expended by officers in the search and the deployment of other resources to better understand the full impact of the false report. Prosecutors will ultimately determine whether or not Reinosa will face criminal charges.
Law enforcement sources told the Times that Reinosa had been investigated in the past in another incident involving allegations of dishonesty documented by his supervisors. The investigation led to discipline, but no recommendation that he be fired. Reinosa was recently preparing to move into a job in the sheriff's detention system, sources say.
Reinosa's motive for faking an assassination attempt remain unknown, but Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris said in an interview that the deputy had been struggling in his first year in the field _ a probationary training period that all deputies must complete before becoming full-fledged deputies.
"He should have been fired and he should be charged. Everyone in Lancaster and the sheriff's department wants him held accountable," Parris said Wednesday.
