Under LAPD policy, officers are prohibited from associating with known gang members or others engaged in criminal activity. He pleaded no contest to grand theft in September 2017 and was sentenced to 30 days in jail and three years' probation, court records show. County with grand theft, petty theft, attempted grand theft and forgery in connection with a Dec. She did not say why the gang officers approached the men in the first place or which of the men tossed the bag into the car.Ĭlarke, 28, of Los Angeles, was released from jail early Monday after posting bail. Investigators from the LAPD’s internal affairs unit were summoned to the scene, and the decision was ultimately made not to arrest the officer because there was no evidence tying him directly to the bag, the sources said.Īs part of its investigation, the department will review video of the encounter from cameras worn by the gang officers.Īn LAPD spokesperson on Monday confirmed that the detained officer and the gang unit officers were under investigation by the internal affairs unit, but said she was limited in what she could say about an ongoing investigation. Clarke is affiliated with an area gang, the sources said. The sources said the officer identified himself as an off-duty member from the LAPD's Southwest Division and denied knowing about the drugs or gun.ĭquan Clarke, the man with the officer, was arrested on suspicion of possessing a concealed gun and narcotics. Their suspicions aroused, the gang officers started to question the men, the sources said.Ī subsequent search of the bag turned up narcotics and at least one unregistered firearm, sources said. When the officers approached, one of the men tossed a bag into the car, according to the sources. Sometime on Saturday night, gang officers assigned to the LAPD's 77th Street Division spotted two men standing next to a parked vehicle, said two sources in the department who were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation. In late May, five armed robberies took place in taco trucks, mostly in South Los Angeles, in the space of a week.Įarlier this year, the LAPD’s 77th Division tweeted an alert, urging community members to be aware of their surroundings and take extra precautions in light of four armed robberies of taco vendor stands.Department officials have repeatedly refused to provide details about the incident beyond saying that both the officer and the arresting officers are the subject of internal affairs investigations. Employees at the stand said it was the second time their company had been targeted in recent months. Last month, two masked men robbed a taco stand at gunpoint in the Florence neighborhood of south Los Angeles. She added that it’s unclear whether the Sunday night thefts are related to the series of taco thefts that have been reported in recent months. Whether the incidents were related is still under investigation, Cervantes said. Police are still looking for the thieves, LAPD police spokeswoman Rosario Cervantes said. In all four incidents, the thieves fit the same description – two black men and a Latino man, about 5ft 6in to 5ft 8in tall – and the culprits stole an unknown amount of cash using a weapon. The last robbery took place at 10:41 p.m., targeting a vendor truck near 43rd Street and Central Avenue. near 51st Street and Ascot Avenue, where personal property was stolen. They may have fled in a gray Honda, police say.Īnother robbery took place two minutes later on Vernon and McKinley Avenues, then a third took place at 10:02 p.m. Although police declined to give details of the crimes, the robberies are the latest in what appears to be an increase in crimes against street vendors in recent months.Īt 9:46 p.m., three young men wearing dark hooded sweatshirts robbed a taco stand near 51st Street and Avalon Boulevard, stealing an unknown amount of cash.
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