LAPD Officer Facing Charges After Allegedly Stealing Truck From OC Car Dealer
SANTA ANA (CBSLA) — A Los Angeles Police Department officer has been charged for allegedly stealing a truck from a car dealership in Orange, the Orange County District Attorney's office announced Monday.
Matthew Calleros, 45, of Whittier, pleaded not guilty to one felony count of the unlawful taking of a vehicle, one felony count of forging a license plate and one felony count of false personation. He was also charged with three misdemeanor counts of the unauthorized disclosure of information from Department of Motor Vehicle records.
According to the D.A.'s office, Calleros is accused of going to B & J Car Company in Orange on Oct. 25, 2019 and driving off in a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado after he asked a car salesman to pull the CarFax on the vehicle.
Calleros then allegedly used another LAPD officer's identification to call into the LAPD's Vehicle Warrant Unit to report the stolen truck had been recovered.
He is also accused of accessing the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System to run multiple checks on the vehicle's license plate number and a different license plate number belonging to a 2014 Chevy Silverado which he then allegedly put on the stolen vehicle.
Calleros was arrested on Nov. 9 at the Hollenbeck Division station after a nearly year-long joint investigation between the Los Angeles and Orange police departments. The stolen truck was parked in the employee parking lot.
According to LAPD, Calleros has been assigned to home duty and relieved of his police powers since Nov. 9, pending the outcome of an administrative investigation.
He was released on his own recognizance and is due back in court April 15. He faces a maximum sentence of four years and four months in state prison if convicted as charged, according to the D.A.'s office.
"When law enforcement officers use their training and law enforcement resources to victimize the very people they are sworn to protect, it tarnishes the badge of every law enforcement officer," O.C.D.A Todd Spitzer said. "Every time an officer's actions erodes the public trust, it undermines the rule of law."
