LOS ANGELES _ A former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy who lied about being shot by a sniper, a fabrication that prompted a massive law enforcement response to hunt down the perpetrator, was arrested Thursday.
On Aug. 21, Angel Raul Reinosa, then a 21-year-old deputy assigned to the department's Lancaster station, radioed into dispatch that while on his way to his car in the station's parking lot, 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.
Soon, law enforcement officers swarmed the area, using binoculars to scan the building for a possible sniper. The SWAT team and armored vehicles were also at the scene, and the public was told to avoid the area. The mayor of Lancaster quickly blamed the incident on people with mental illnesses who live in the apartment building.
But officials soon raised doubt about whether Reinosa was telling the truth, and the sheriff's homicide bureau launched a criminal investigation into Reinosa, who is no longer employed by the department.
On Thursday, the district attorney's office filed three counts against Reinosa: filing a false police report, which is a misdemeanor, and two felony counts of insurance fraud, related to a workers' compensation claim.
At 2:30 p.m. Thursday, detectives from the sheriff's internal criminal investigation bureau arrested Reinosa after a traffic stop in Los Angeles. He was taken to the county jail inmate reception center, where his bail was set at $40,000.
Reinosa is expected in court Friday for his arraignment.
