| For Immediate Release Case # 12HF0555 March 13, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
LAPD OFFICER MOONLIGHTING AS A SECURITY GUARD CHARGED WITH STEALING FROM LUXURY HOTEL WHERE HE WORKED
NEWPORT BEACH – A Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer moonlighting as a security guard is being charged with grand theft and burglary for stealing from the luxury hotel where he worked. Jeffry Paul Quinton, 48, Anaheim Hills, is facing one felony count each of grand theft and commercial burglary. He faces a maximum sentence of three years and eight months in state prison if convicted. He is scheduled to be arraigned March 14, 2012, 8:30 a.m. in Department H-1, Harbor Justice Center, Newport Beach.
Quinton is accused of working a second job as a security guard for the Surf and Sand Resort in Laguna Beach. He was entrusted with access to an online “lost and found” logging system for the hotel. On Oct. 17, 2011, hotel staff recovered $2,000 from a hotel room, secured it into a lost and found safe, and logged in the information.
The following day, the defendant is accused of accessing the electronic system and changing the $2,000 to list a “gold watch” in its place. He is accused of changing the room number where the money was found, falsely logging that the watch was returned to its owner, and stealing $960 out of the safe.
On Dec. 26, 2011, the defendant is accused of covering the surveillance camera in the security office with tape for several minutes. While the camera’s view was blocked with tape, he is accused of stealing $680 out of the safe deposit box in the office.
On Jan. 24, 2012, Quinton is accused of disappearing for over an hour during his shift, stealing $290 in bedding from a locked hotel storage room, and storing the items in his car. The Laguna Beach Police Department reviewed the surveillance at the request of the hotel and discovered the theft.
Deputy District Attorney Andrew Katz of the Special Prosecutions Unit is prosecuting this case.
###