Caught On Tape: LAPD Officer Calls Photographer 'Fruitcake,' Detains Him
Not a good spring for the Los Angeles Police Department: First an officer was caught on video throwing a kick at a bike rider, and now a video has emerged that depicts an enraged cop calling a photographer a "fruitcake" and detaining him for taking pictures.
YouTube Officer Espinoza.
The incident apparently happened in February near Hollywood Boulevard and Normandie Avenue, but the video did not emerge until this week (spotted at LAist). The officer, who wears a name tag of Espinoza and who seems attached to a car out of the Northeast Division, is conducting a traffic stop of driver in a white Mercedes-Benz C300 when the shooter approaches.
The officer repeatedly tells the photog to "move along," saying, "Me I'm a citizen of this country. I was in the Marine Corps a few years getting shot at for you. You can move a long."
The cop disputes the shooter's contention that he is legally taking photos in public. When the man is detained and eventually asked if he has parking tickets on record the officer states the reason for the "legal stop" is for "taking a picture of her and taking mine."
At one point the cop erupts:
"You fruitcake god dang it ... I sweat my god dang ass fucking two years in the desert. I gotta hear from your fruitcake ass?"
Somehow the photog is also videotaping the incident the whole time. We're expecting another LAPD investigation on this one.
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