On March 20, 2020, Archi Duenas, the manager of the Los Angeles Police Academy gun store, was arrested and charged with stealing 35 firearms from his employer and selling them to members of the Academy, all police officers. In September 2020 the LAPD announced they recovered 24 of the stolen guns, leaving 11 outstanding.
On September 15, 2020, Archi Duenas pleaded not guilty to grand theft of a firearm, grand theft by embezzlement and illegal possession of an assault weapon, 22 misdemeanor counts of unlawfully selling or transferring a firearm without a license and one misdemeanor count of carrying a loaded and concealed firearm in a vehicle, according to the Los Angeles Times.
None of the police officers who bought guns from Duenas were charged, and one law enforcement sources not authorized to discuss the investigation, said one of the buyers was an LAPD captain.
Almost a year later, on February 18, 2021, LADP detectives searched the home of LAPD Captain Jonathan Tom looking for some of those stolen firearms. Investigators also sought access to Captain Tom’s cell phones and other communications devices “to determine if he or others bought or received any of the weapons that Duenas allegedly stole.”
According to LA Times sources, investigators found over 50 firearms at Captain Tom’s home. Those firearms are currently being traced with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE).
The LA Times says LAPD Chief Michel Moore approved the warrant that was signed by a Superior Court judge.
Capt. Stacy Spell, an LAPD spokesman, confirmed the department served a search warrant in Long Beach but said “the facts and circumstances regarding that warrant have been sealed by a judge and cannot be disclosed at this time to preserve the integrity of the investigation.”
The search of his home is a black mark on the career of a man who, by everything I can find, is an excellent police officer.
On January 6, 2020, Captain Jonathan Tom took command of the West Los Angeles police division. Prior to that appointment he was commanding officer of the Critical Incident Review division where, “We looked at all uses of force. Everything from grabbing wrists to custody deaths.”
Captain Tom’s LAPD bio page and a CirclingTheNews.com report show a man deeply committed to his community and, as far as I’m able to discern, he is still on the job despite the search of his home for guns stolen from the Los Angeles Police Academy gun store.
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