L.A. Officer Accused of Defrauding Car Insurer
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A Los Angeles police officer was charged with insurance fraud and perjury after allegedly reporting his SUV stolen in Sylmar three days after Mexican authorities seized it in Baja California, officials said Friday.
Joseph R. Droke of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Continuing Education Division was arrested Thursday and released in lieu of $25,000 bail.
The Police Department has assigned Droke to work at home pending the outcome of the criminal and administrative proceedings.
The charges stem from an investigation by the multi-agency Task Force for Regional Autotheft Prevention and the LAPD’s Professional Standards Bureau.
Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, said the firm that insured Droke’s 2001 Jeep Cherokee paid $17,000 to a bank and another $3,000 to Droke. The perjury charge stems from Droke’s sworn statement when he made the insurance claim.
Gibbons said investigators discovered that Droke’s Jeep was recovered in Mexico three days before he reported it stolen. Gibbons said state police impounded the car in stripped condition there.
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