Court Upholds Firing of 2 Calif. Police Officers Accused of Ignoring Robbery to Play Pokémon Go

Photo: PG/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

In a32-page decisionfiled on Friday, a California appeals court upheld the firing of two Los Angeles police officers accused of ignoring a robbery to play the smartphone game Pokémon Go.

According to the decision, the two former police officers, Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell, who were fired in 2017 for the incident had filed a petition that challenged their termination.

Lozano and Mitchell argued the city broke the law when it used the digital in-car video system as evidence. The two also claim they were denied protections under the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act.

“A board of rights found petitioners guilty on multiple counts of misconduct, based in part on a digital in-car video system (DICVS) recording that captured petitioners willfully abdicating their duty to assist a commanding officer’s response to a robbery in progress and playing a Pokémon mobile phone game while on duty,” a passage from the decision read.

The augmented reality smartphone game became an instant phenomenon after itslaunchin 2016.

The LAPD did not immediately return PEOPLE’s request for comment on the appeals court’s decision to uphold the firing of the officers.

source: people.com