| For Immediate Release Case # 12HF0555 July 30, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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LAPD OFFICER MOONLIGHTING AS A SECURITY GUARD CONVICTED OF STEALING FROM LUXURY HOTEL WHERE HE WORKED
SANTA ANA – A Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer moonlighting as a security guard was convicted and sentenced today for stealing from the luxury hotel where he worked. Jeffry Paul Quinton, 47, Anaheim Hills, pleaded guilty to a court offer to one felony count each of grand theft and commercial burglary. He was sentenced to 120 days in jail, three years of formal probation, and ordered to pay restitution. The People advocated for a sentence of one year in custody.
Quinton worked a second job as a security guard for the Surf and Sand Resort in Laguna Beach and 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 the information.
The following day, the defendant accessed the electronic system and changed the $2,000 to list a “gold watch” in its place. He changed the room number where the money was found, falsely logged that the watch was returned to its owner, and stole $960 out of the safe.
On Dec. 26, 2011, the defendant covered the surveillance camera in the security office with tape for several minutes. While the camera’s view was blocked with tape, he stole $680 out of the safe deposit box in the office.
On Jan. 24, 2012, Quinton disappeared for over an hour during his shift, stole $290 in bedding from a locked hotel storage room, and stored 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 prosecuted this case.
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