Cops fired for ignoring robbery to catch Snorlax in Pokemon Go denied court review

A couple of Los Angeles Police Department officers have been denied a new court review after being fired for ignoring a robbery in progress to catch a Snorlax in Pokemon Go.

Earlier this year, it was reported that officers Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell tried to catch a Snorlax in Pokemon Go despite getting a radio call that the Macy’s at Crenshaw Plaza was being robbed and cops had requested backup.

Lozano and Mitchell claimed that they never heard the request for backup because it was “loud”, resulting in their vehicle’s digital video system recording being reviewed.

According to court documents, one of the officers alerted his partner that a Snorlax “just popped up” and for 20 minutes, the two discussed Pokemon while they drove to different locations to hunt the creatures on their phones.

On the radio, the two even voiced struggles catching some of the critters, with one yelling, “Holy crap, man. This thing is fighting the crap out of me” before eventually catching a Togetic.

After making the catch, they claimed that other officers would be “jealous” of what they caught.

Both officers admitted that they left their patrol to search for the Snorlax and ended up being terminated in 2018, but on Wednesday April 20, 2022, they took their case to the California Supreme Court.

As reported by Bloomberg Law, the two had failed to convince the California Supreme Court that the recordings were used properly in the LAPD’s decision to terminate them.

This serves as a good lesson for any Pokemon enthusiast: don’t let your desire to catch em all get in the way of your day job, even if you work in the public sector.

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