A mistaken Mentos theft that led an off-duty police officer to draw his weapon on a customer at a California service station awaiting his change for the mints is under investigation, sparking questions about reasonable use of force.
Jose Arreola of Bellflower had paid $1.19 for the roll of mints at an Orange County service station in March and put the candy in his pocket while he was waiting for his change from the cashier, the Orange County Register reported.
The off-duty Buena Park police officer standing in line behind Arreola, who apparently missed part of the transaction and only saw Arreola putting the candy in his pocket, took out his service weapon and identified himself as a cop (thought he hasn't been identified publicly).
He questioned the cashier about whether Arreola had paid for the candy, the Register said, and after the cashier twice confirmed that Arreola had indeed made the purchase, the officer apologized to the visibly shaken Arreola.
"It's astounding there would be a police officer who would think it's OK to do it," said Joe Domanick, associate director of the Center on Media, Crime and Justice at John Jay College, per the Register. "(It's) entirely opposite of what's going on in police departments. You pull a gun as a last resort.”
"It shows the officer has been poorly trained or not trained at all or he's totally unsuited to be a police officer."
Arreola told the Register that he remains shaken from the incident.
"It's been a month and I still can't shake it," said Arreola. "It was traumatic, the whole incident. (And) I grew up in Santa Ana. I've been shot at before."
Buena Park Sgt. Mike Lovchik declined to comment to the Register on the incident because there was an ongoing internal investigation.
However, in an effort to be transparent Buena Park Police Chief Corey Sianez released a video on the incident Friday on Facebook.
"The video of the incident clearly shows our officer drawing his gun, but not pointing it, at a subject he allegedly believed was committing a theft inside the mini-mart of a Chevron gas station in Buena Park," Sianez the post. "We were aware of this incident after it occurred and we immediately began conducting an administrative investigation into the conduct of the officer involved.”
"… I want you to know that after I watched the video I found it to be disturbing, as I'm sure it was to you. However, because there is an ongoing personnel investigation and potential litigation pending against the city, I am unable to discuss the details of our investigation. I can definitely assure you that our investigation will be thorough and if the officer is found to be in violation of any policies and procedures, he will be held accountable."
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