Hollenbeck Division Mourns Loss Of Retired LAPD Officer Phil Arreola To COVID-19
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Retired LAPD Officer Felipe "Phil" Arreola has died of COVID-19, the department's Hollenbeck Community Police Station announced.
The 30-year department veteran died Tuesday from complications of COVID-19, according to a tweet posted by the Hollenbeck Community Police Station. Arreola had joined the LAPD in August of 1989.
According to the LAPD, Arreola was 11 years old when he arrived in Los Angeles from Mexico in 1968. His family was just one of five living in the Pico Aliso area, and as a teenager, Arreola resisted joining local gangs because he was "going to be a cop."
Arreola was assigned in 1998 to the Hollenbeck Division, where he worked for 22 years. He retired on Jan. 31, 2020.
Ten LAPD employees have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began -- including eight sworn officers and two civilian employees.
