LAPD officer Richard Podkowski, 28, was booked for assault with a deadly weapon on May 21, according to jail records and a statement from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).
Early Tuesday morning, Podkowski was arrested and transported to an LAPD jail. He was released on $30,000 bond that same day.
A day after the incident the LAPD said in a statement that they were prompted to respond to the 8600 block of Belford Avenue after “a community member generated a radio call of an Assault with a Deadly Weapon.” Police later identified the suspect as “off-duty Officer Richard Podkowski.”
Investigators booked Podkowski on California Penal Code Section 245 – Assault with a Deadly Weapon.
The Los Angeles Times reported that an LAPD spokesperson has confirmed that, “no one was hospitalized because of the incident.” But the spokesperson “declined to discuss the type of weapon used or the circumstances of the assault.”
Podkowski joined the LAPD in 2018 and is assigned to the department’s West Bureau, according to a recent LAPD roster. Recently, he was involved with an investigation centered on a celebrity photographer accused of sexual assault, according to a tweet from the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL).
On Wednesday the department said that Podkowski is currently “on administrative leave.”
In February of 2021, cop-watcher and citizen journalist, William Gude (AKA Film The Police), filed a complaint for “biased policing,” “obstruction/intimidation,” and “illegal search,” after he caught Podkowski and other LAPD officers allegedly “illegally detaining and searching” multiple detainees in Hollywood.
Here is dirty cop Richard Podkowski telling detainees “not to talk to me” after I caught him illegally detaining and searching the detainees. pic.twitter.com/1UWAI553zY https://t.co/KjjYH9FgkO
— Film The Police LA (@FilmThePoliceLA) May 23, 2024
After completing an “investigation” into the matter, the LAPD said in an official determination letter shared with L.A. TACO that two allegations that Gude made against Podkowski and officers involved in the incident, were “unfounded.”
However, the department agreed with Gude that Podkowski “engaged in obstruction and intimidation” and said that his “actions could have been different,” according to the letter.
Podkowski’s next court date is currently scheduled for June 11.
