LAPD officer stationed in the Valley charged on suspicion of 2 rapes and fired
LAPD officer stationed in the Valley charged on suspicion of 2 rapes and fired
by Josh Cain
A Los Angeles Police Department officer from the San Fernando Valley was charged with two counts of forcible rape on Wednesday, a District Attorney’s Office representative said.
Officer William Alexander Rodriguez, a 10-year veteran of the department, was arrested Wednesday night and been fired, said LAPD officials said.
Rodriguez, who was working in LAPD’s Valley Traffic Division, was being investigated for a sexual assault that occurred in November last year, police said in a statement.
In the course of that investigation, detectives got a “cold hit” from Rodriguez’s DNA on an earlier sexual-assault allegation that occurred in August 2015.
Officials said both assaults occurred while Rodriguez was off-duty.
In the November incident, investigators said the victim was an acquaintance of Rodriguez’s.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, the rape occurred at Rodriguez’s home on Nov. 1, 2018. That is Rodriguez’s birthday, according to sheriff’s booking records.
A detective in LAPD’s Robbery Homicide Division declined to comment on the investigation.
In the statement, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said the department would not hesitate to investigate its own officers who are accused of crimes.
“When one of our own breaks the trust of the people we are sworn to protect and to serve, it tarnishes the badge we all wear proudly on our chests,” he said.
Rodriguez was being held in the Men’s Central Jail in downtown L.A. The D.A.’s Office said he was scheduled to appear in court at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center on Thursday.
Prosecutors have recommended that Rodriguez’s bail be set at $1.2 million. If convicted of all charges, he faces 30 years in state prison.
All credit goes to Josh Cain Originally published on https://www.dailynews.com
