Sheriff's Deputy Allegedly Found Parked With Teenage Girl In San Fernando

SAN FERNANDO (CBS) — Police say a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy was arrested early Thursday after he was found in a parked car with a 15-year-old girl at 2 a.m.

Deputy Richard Di Giovanni, an 11-year veteran of the Sheriff's Department, was booked on suspicion of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

A woman who saw her teen granddaughter leave home with a man called San Fernando police, who found the pair at 2 a.m., parked on Hubbard Street, "doing nothing more than sitting there talking," San Fernando's interim police chief Gil Carillo told the Daily News.

Di Giovanni was booked just before 8 a.m. and later posted bail. He has been relieved of duty with pay, a Sheriff's Department spokesman said.

The nature of the relationship between Di Giovanni and the girl was not known, and Carillo declined to say how his behavior contributed to the delinquency of a minor.

Di Giovanni was given the department's Purple Heart after being shot in the line of duty in 2009 while chasing a man who had already fired at deputies in Lawndale.

A Sheriff's Department spokesman says Di Giovanni will face an Internal Affairs investigation after the court case is over.