‘Embarrassed and incredibly disappointed,’ says California sheriff of deputy’s sniper hoax

in Local Roundup

A Southern California sheriff's deputy who set off a massive manhunt when he allegedly faked being shot by a sniper outside his station has left colleagues furious, with his boss moving to boot him off the force and investigators probing potential criminal charges.

Deputy Angel Reinosa, a 21-year-old trainee with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, prompted widespread panic and a large-scale response from law enforcement last week when he radioed an emergency dispatcher and dramatically stated he'd been hit by sniper fire in the parking lot of the sheriff department's Lancaster station. He even showed investigators his damaged bulletproof vest, which he claimed saved his life, officials said.

But in a stunning twist, officials said on Saturday that Reinosa confessed to fabricating the attack by a sharpshooter, and cut a hole in his bulletproof vest to bolster his hoax.

Continue Reading on ABC News

Tags: