Many folks come to Santa Clarita from SFV to escape gridlock and urban malaise. Unfortunately, it appears one of our own has caused just that south of the Newhall Pass.
UPDATE: Daily News and The Signal have more on the SCV connection, an “I Hate Jeff Stenroos” FB group has surfaced and SCVTalk readers weigh in.
The LA Times and many other sources are reporting what the LAPD has apparently suspected since the very beginning of the Jan 19 incident: the massive dragnet, lockdown and inconvenience was set in motion based on a hoax perpetrated by the “victim,” LAUSD cop Jeff Stenroos.
As it turns out, Mr. Stenroos is a Santa Clarita resident:
Stenroos, 30, has not spoken publicly since the shooting. A call left for a Jeff Stenroos in Santa Clarita was not returned.
And to make the story even juicier, he involved the good doctors at Mayo in the reuse:
Days after the incident, Stenroos checked himself into Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, complaining of chest pains. That piqued investigators’ concerns even more; officials began to suspect that stress was getting to him.
UPDATE Jan 29 9am: The Daily News ran a story in this morning’s paper highlighting Stenroos’ SCV home and his neighbors:
News of the hoax stunned the law enforcement community, school officials and Stenroos’ neighbors, who described him as a nice guy, devoted husband and doting father to his young daughter.
“I was shocked when I heard he was shot, and I’m even more shocked to hear that he was arrested – that it might have been a hoax,” said next-door-neighbor Kip Leland.
The Signal has also picked up on the scent, going so far as to cite the street he lives on in Valencia.
And the ridicule has reached Facebook. A group surfaced overnight with nearly 200 “likes” entited “I hate Jeff Stenroos” and featuring the sketch of the supposed pony-tailed perp.
I’m embarrassed by the alleged actions of Mr. Stenroos (especially since he’s an SCV local), but let’s not get the lynch mob out just yet. He’s going to be tried in court for the alleged crime and I’m sure justice will be served.
SCVTalk Contributor Linda urges restraint:
While I understand the anger, I wish people would tone it down a bit and wait to hear the rest of the story. Stenroos is an 8 year veteran of the sheriff’s department with a wife and daughter. The training he had to endure to get the job in the first place is rigorous and the pressures of the job are significant. There are questions about his emotional stability and the harsh spotlight being focused on him now could lead to tragedy.
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Jeff S:
First off, thank you for the 5 hours of overtime you gave me that night. But, you are an %^&*&^. You wasted so many officers time, including my own, inconvenienced parents, and made life horrible for many children in the schools that were locked down.
Why don’t you just be a man and come out and say what happened? You are a disgrace to the law enforcement profession. Now because of you, people will again have more of a reason to dislike the police.
There has got to be a lot more twists and turns to this story. Reports stated that the police found an expended nine millimeter cartridge near the scene, and Stenroos’s service weapon is a 45, which they would have known immediately if it had been fired.
At least this hoaxter was a little creative, pinning the blame on a ficticious gray pony tailed middle aged white man, instead of the mysterious but always dangerous black man (think Susan Smith).
Here is an LA Times blog link with a related 1984 LA Olympics Hoax
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/01/alleged-police-shooting-hoax-is-reminder-of-earlier-case-of-hero-cop-turned-bomb-suspect.html
What bothers me about this is that when a citizen says something, it’s treated with skepticism and has to be verified before cops act. If a cop says something they treat it as gospel. Hopefully this will be a message to the courts and society that citizens and cops should be treated the same, and that cops are just as likely to lie for their own personal benefit as anyone else.
Example please.
While I understand the anger, I wish people would tone it down a bit and wait to hear the rest of the story. Stenroos is an 8 year veteran of the sheriff’s department with a wife and daughter. The training he had to endure to get the job in the first place is rigorous and the pressures of the job are significant. There are questions about his emotional stability and the harsh spotlight being focused on him now could lead to tragedy.
Most police officers go to great lengths to maintain their privacy so that people they have arrested or testified against cannot endanger them or their families. The Signal this morning decided to compromise Mr. Stenroos’ privacy by printing his street name and Channel 11 last night did a remote broadcast last night in front of his house. Why? What he did was wrong, but he did not kill or injure anyone and the person most harmed by all of this is he himself. He will now be without a job and will not find another in law enforcement. What money he does have will no doubt be confiscated as damages. That and whatever legal punishment comes his way is sufficient. For goodness sake, have some pity.
Good points RM. I am still wondering where he was proven guilty of the alleged crime. Perhaps the media has again assumed the roll of a jury. It seems to be the law enforcements community was the first to pass out high praise and then to pass out the blame – all without evidence – makes you wonder.
NO, he is a member of the Los Angeles Unified School Police. The training is completely different. What is there to hear of the story? He already admitted he made it up. He is a disgrace and a liar.
Linda, I hate to do this, but you need to be more careful about your posts. This is the second factual error you’ve had that I’ve seen in just the last week.
Stenroos is an 8 year veteran of the LAUSD School Police. Not of the Sheriff’s department.
You are right that I made a mistake in calling him a veteran of the sheriff’s department. He is a veteran of the LA School Police. I make no claim to being perfect. I also did not author this thread; I am merely commenting on it. But feel free to keep looking for my mistakes; I will do the same for you.
As to the requirements and training to be a LASPD officer, I dispute that they are “completely different.” LASPD officers go through the same series of requirements as any other police officer in the state, including 6 months of police academy. Unlike those employed by LAPD & the Sheriff’s Department, they must undergo additional specialized instruction in juvenile law. If you are interested in reading more, check this site: http://www.laspd.com/faq.htm#partOfCity
And there is plenty more to be known about this story. They don’t really know what happened. A 9mm shell casing was found at the site. Stenroos did have a bruise. Did he shoot himself? Did someone else shoot him for whom he is covering up? He is entitled to a fair trial.
Making no claim you are perfect. Sorry if it came off that way.
And yes, he is entitled to a fair trial. It should be very simple though. Mr. Stenroos, did you make a false claim about being shot by a man whom you gave a description of to the LAPD? Answer: Yes. Jury: Guilty.
In addition, LAPD officers and Sheriff’s deputies also go through additional training in juvenile law. LAUSD officers are required to since there primary assignment is dealing with juveniles. Other officers and deputies from other agencies get the same juvenile training if they are going to be assigned to details involving juveniles.
My remark was not directed at you, Thomas, but Todd, who is keeping close tabs on me apparently. And I’m in a grumpy mood today or I would have laughed it off.
Someone needs to provide quality journalism for the SCV… we all know The Signal doesn’t do it, and KHTS just plagiarizes press releases and calls it their own.
:>)
And what of the risk this caused the community due to distracted law enforcement?
I’m not disputing that what Stenroos did was wrong. He should face the legal consequences for what he did. But I think the kind of hatred being directed toward him is disproportionate to his offense and the making of his address available to the public is flat out wrong.
“But I think the kind of hatred being directed toward him is disproportionate to his offense . . . . . “
Imagine being held hostage without food, water and restrooms (aka lockdown) in a classroom for five hours and having to pee and poop in a bucket and get back to me on that one. It’s also my understanding that the people who lived in the area were not allowed access to their homes during the incident. Imagine the pets that were left inside for what their owners thought would only be a few hours at most. I would guess it wasn’t a pretty sight when some of the homeowners returned. Not to mention the stress caused to the kids stuck in lockdown and the stress the parents went through who had children stuck in lockdown.
“ . . . . and the making of his address available to the public is flat out wrong.”
His address is public record. If you own a home, your address is public record. Anyone can access this information. Considering the hell he put people through, I’m pretty sure most don’t have a lot of sympathy that his address was made public. Too bad for his wife and kids, but he should have thought about that before he pulled this stunt.
He should pay for his crime, including reimbursement of the taxpayer’s expense in following his charade. This probably means he loses his house. So be it.
But his family didn’t commit any crime, and the news giving out his street and address is unconscionable. THEY should pay for the cost of moving and protecting their anonymity should there be any threat of retribution from anyone through his prior police work.
Does anyone in the media have a clue anymore?
The Signal is constantly getting grief for not reporting names ( driver in the July 4 crash, Karate teacher accused of sexual assault, young adult lighting a sign on fire…)
Lila Littlejohn, The Signal’s executive editor, recently posted a lengthy explanation about policy regarding releasing names in crime stories.
http://www.the-signal.com/section/36/article/39149/
Interesting that she chose to print the name of the city and street where this man and his family reside.
This inquiring mind would just like to know why he did it, and how. We already know who, where and when…..:)
Thank you. That’s all I want to know.
Pure conjecture:
How…
1. Remove vest.
2. Fire at vest.
3. Strike oneself with a fist.
4. Drop casing near scene of the ‘crime’
5. Don the vest and report shooting.
Why:
A complicated love triangle, and a means to garner attention spun way out of control.
I’ve seen conflicting reports about the circumstances, but what I’ve seen most is the theory that he was playing around with his gun and it accidentally fired, hitting him in the chest.
My guess is that they’re being tight lipped on the circumstances so as to keep the evidence quiet until such time as it has to be disclosed.