Three Santa Ana police officers who were part of a pot shop raid that was caught on surveillance cameras pleaded not guilty to petty theft charges Monday, prosecutors said.
Jorge Arroyo, Nicole Lynn Quijas and Brandon Matthew Sontag were charged in March with one misdemeanor count of petty theft, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s office. Sontag was additionally charged with one misdemeanor count of vandalism of damage less than $400.
The District Attorney’s Office filed the charges on suspicion of stealing food and damaging store property.
The officers were part of a raid on May 26, 2015, on Sky High Holistic, a marijuana dispensary on 17th Street.
Though some of the store cameras were legally disabled during the raid, four hidden cameras allegedly captured the officers making derogatory comments about a disabled customer and raiding the back of the store for snacks.
Sontag is accused of smashing the camera lenses to disable them.
If convicted, Arroyo and Quijas both face up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, and Sontag could face one year and six months in jail and a $2,000 fine, prosecutors said.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
The pretrial hearing will be held on July 25.
