Now-former LAPD Officer Edmond Babaians, 43, is charged with stealing credit and debit cards from visitors he searched at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown LA. He was a 16-year department veteran. (LAPD photo)
LOS ANGELES — A former Los Angeles Police Department officer is scheduled to be arraigned Friday on charges of stealing debit and credit cards from people whose belongings were being searched as they entered the Metropolitan Detention Center downtown.
Edmond Babaians, 43, was charged with three felony counts and one misdemeanor count of unlawful use of access cards, according to the District Attorney’s Office. He was originally arrested last August following an LAPD Internal Affairs Division investigation.
According to prosecutors, Babaians had been working at the Metropolitan Detention Center since November 2018, with his duties including searching personal belongings of people visiting inmates at the jail facility.
Prosecutors contend that in July of last year, Babaians stole debit and credit cards from four people who were passing through the security checkpoint, and he allegedly made several purchases with the stolen cards.
He faces up to five years and four months in jail if convicted as charged, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
LAPD officials said last year when the arrest was announced that the investigation began when a member of the public contacted the department about a missing debit card and subsequent unauthorized transactions on the card.
The victim obtained photos of the person who had made purchases with her debit card at a home improvement store and forwarded the pictures to the LAPD. The person using the card was identified as Babaians, according to the LAPD.
“The allegations of an officer breaking public trust are extremely troubling and there must be accountability,” LAPD Chief Michel Moore said at the time.
Mayor Karen Bass issued a statement saying, “Our police officers must be held accountable to the highest standard. I want to acknowledge and thank Chief Moore and LAPD leadership for swiftly taking action on this serious matter. The integrity of our police department is of the utmost importance and we must continue to act with transparency and accountability to build trust with all Angelenos.”
Babaians was a 16-year veteran of the department, LAPD officials said last year, but prosecutors said he is no longer employed by the department.
