Instead of reporting the discovery of a criminal operation that sold stolen electronics, District police officers in uniform greedily ordered iPads, gold jewelry and flat-screen televisions for themselves, court documents show. Further details emerged Wednesday in the arrest of the three D.C. cops who were ensnared in an internal affairs investigation designed to weed out dishonest and corrupt cops. Fourth District officers Guillermo Ortiz, Silvestre Bonilla and Dioni Fernandez pleaded not guilty to receipt of stolen goods. If convicted, they could face up to a 180 days in jail.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said the trio did not appear to be working together, but charging documents allege that Bonilla tipped off Ortiz to the too-good-to-be true deals.
The investigation started in January when police got a tip that police officers were buying stolen property. Court documents offer the following account:
On Jan. 12, a cooperating informant told Bonilla that his nephew worked at an Apple store and had stolen several iPod Nanos worth $820. He’d be willing to sell them for $200. Bonilla bought the items and was videotaped with the Apple store bag walking out of a Carolina’s restaurant at 14th and Spring Avenue NW. Twenty minutes later, Bonilla called the informant and asked if he could get two more iPods the next day.
In one call, the confidential informant told Ortiz that the burglars were in Montgomery County stealing and two televisions would be ready the next day. Ortiz agreed to buy both.
The next day, Ortiz asked to have the televisions hauled to his apartment in Northwest Washington. Ortiz paid $150 and agreed to pay another $150 later. The value of the TVs was about $1,200.
After buying an iPad for $150, Fernandez called the informant back to buy two more so he could sell them, police said.
The charges were unrelated to the arrest of Officer Jennifer L. Green, who authorities said was arrested over the weekend for participating in what she believed was a burglary of a home but was really an undercover sting.
All four officers have been suspended with pay pending the outcome of their cases.
