Officer Arrested for Fondling a Dead Woman’s Breasts



photo of a police body camera
LAPD Body Camera

Caught on Camera

Los Angeles police officer, David Rojas, was arrested on Thursday after body camera video showed him fondling the breasts of a dead woman.

Rojas, along with another officer, responded to a fatal overdose call on October 20. None of the articles say where the incident took place but the other officer left the room to take care of some paperwork so it sounds as if it may have happened at the morgue. Once the other officer left the room, Rojas turned off his body camera and began fondling the woman’s breasts, not realizing that the camera has a two minute buffering period during which it is still recording.

Lucky Catch

Body cam video is turned in by officers at the end of every shift. Because of the thousands of hours of recordings, videos are randomly reviewed. An officer reviewing video grabbed a video off the shelf and found the incident. Officer Rojas was charged with Mutilating, Disinterring, Removing or Having Sexual Contact with Human Remains Without Authority. This charge is a felony offense under the Health and Safety Code in California.

Police Union Releases Statement

It often seems that police unions stick up for officers no matter what. Trying to see things from both sides, it makes sense that if something hasn’t been proven yet, they would stick with the officer until he is convicted. From the public’s point of view, it often seems that there is sufficient evidence and that officers are just sticking up for other officers. Yes, I understand that the public’s opinion is often based on emotion rather than evidence. It doesn’t change the fact that it’s the public’s perception.

However, I have to say that the Los Angeles Police Protective League did an excellent job of handling this situation. They released the following statement:

“We hope that District Attorney Jackie Lacey charging Mr. Rojas for his vile alleged crime will bring some solace to the deceased woman’s family during their time of grieving.

The Los Angeles Police Protective League will not defend Mr. Rojas during his criminal proceedings, and his alleged behavior is abhorrent and an affront to every law enforcement professional working for the LAPD.”

This is the kind of reaction that gives the public faith in the unions that support law enforcement. Officer Rojas has not been fired yet but we imagine that is coming.

To watch the Fox 11 news video about this incident click here.

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