LOS ANGELES – A Los Angeles police officer who in January was charged with misdemeanor theft after a raid on an illegal cannabis cultivation facility was rearrested this week and charged with felony burglary in the incident.
Neither Officer Louis Mota nor his attorney have responded to requests for comment, and the Los Angeles Police Department did not provide further information or evidence in the case.
In the original incident, while narcotics officers were processing the cultivation site, an employee told a supervising officer that cash was missing from her backpack. After reviewing security camera footage from the scene, it was determined that Officer Mota had taken the money.
At the time, Mota was charged with a misdemeanor, released on his own recognizance, and assigned to home duty pending legal proceedings.
“No employee of this Department is above the law, and we will not tolerate any individual who betrays the public’s trust through this type of behavior,” LAPD Chief Michel Moore said in a statement after Mota’s first arrest.
With this most recent arrest, Mota’s was bail was set at $50,000. He was released due to coronavirus prevention protocols in effect at local jails, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Ironically, the accused officer’s last name is a commonly used Spanish slang term for “marijuana,” which may have caused increased attention and added amusement to the story.
