LAPD officer given jail in thefts at Surf and Sand www.privateofficer.com

 

Los Angeles CA July 31 2012 A veteran Los Angeles Police Department officer who moonlighted as a Surf and Sand security guard was sentenced today to jail and probation after copping to repeatedly stealing cash from the tony Laguna Beach resort.

Through a court deal, Jeffry Paul Quinton, pleaded guilty to two felonies and Judge Robert R. Fitzgerald sentenced the Anaheim Hills 47-year-old to 120 days behind bars and three years probation.

Prosecutors thought Quinton should remain in custody for a year, according to a statement from the Orange County District Attorney’s office. The maximum penalty for the felonies the cop pleaded guilty to–grand theft and commercial burglary–is more than three years in prison.

On Oct. 17, 2011, staff at the Surf and Sand, where rooms can go for more than $500 a night, recovered $2,000 from a hotel room, secured the money in a hotel safe and detailed the discovery on the resort’s online “lost and found” logging system. Quinton had access to that electronic system, and the next day he changed the log to indicate the “$2,000″ was instead a “gold watch,” that it was recovered from a different room number and that the watch had been returned to its owner. He then stole $960 out of the safe.

The cop was not done giving himself unauthorized bonuses. On Dec. 26, 2011, he used tape to cover the surveillance camera lens in the security office for several minutes as he stole $680 out of a safe deposit box there. Then, this past Jan. 24, Quinton disappeared from his shift for more than an hour as he ferried $290 in stolen bedding from a locked hotel storage room to his car.

The Laguna Beach Police Department investigated the final theft, reviewing surveillance video to discover the crime. Further probing uncovered the other thefts. A 21-year LAPD veteran, Quinton’s been on paid administrative leave since his arrest.

Off duty LAPD working hotel security charged in thefts www.privateofficer.com

 

 

Los Angeles CAMarch 14 2012 A veteran Los Angeles police officer who was moonlighting as a security guard at a Laguna Beach luxury hotel has been charged in connection with a scheme to steal money and other items from its lost and found, Orange County prosecutors said Tuesday.

Jeffry Paul Quinton, 48, of Anaheim Hills, faces two felonies — grand theft and commercial burglary, said officials with the Orange County district attorney’s office. If convicted of all charges, he faces a maximum sentence of three years and eight months behind bars.

Quinton, who was arrested by the Laguna Beach Police Department, has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal case, LAPD officials said.

A 21-year LAPD veteran assigned to the Central Division, Quinton also worked as a security guard for the Surf and Sand Resort in Laguna Beach.

As part of his off-duty job, he had access to the hotel’s computerized “lost and found” system. In October 2011, authorities said he accessed that system and changed records that showed that hotel staff had recovered $2,000 from a hotel room.

The cash entry was falsified to reflect that a gold watch had been recovered, authorities said. In addition, Quinton changed the room number where the money was found and changed the record to reflect that the watch was returned to its owner. Authorities said he also stole $960 out of the safe.

Two months later, Quinton covered a surveillance camera in the hotel’s security office with tape for several minutes, prosecutors said. While the view was obscured, he stole $680 out of the safe deposit box in the office, authorities said.

In late January, Quinton is accused of stealing $290 in bedding from a locked hotel storage room and putting the items in his car. Quinton was arrested after Laguna Beach police reviewed security surveillance footage.

Source:LA Times