the next year, the police chief publicly apologized. In June 2011, press reports indicated that a Fullerton police officer, Kelly Janeth Mejia had been arrested at Miami International Airport after stealing an iPad at a security checkpoint. The officer was placed on paid leave by the department. She was fired in October, although the department would not make a public statement as to why she was discharged. She admitted her guilt in court in February 2012 and was sentenced to pay $100 in court costs, a $250 charitable donation and a requirement to attend a "theft class." In July 2011, Fullerton police officer Todd Alan Major pleaded guilty to two charges involving embezzlement and theft to fuel his drug habit. He was sentenced to six months in jail. In August 2011, Officer Alber Rincon was the subject of a federal lawsuit by two women claiming the officer sexually attacked them in the back seat of his police car. On July 9, the department informed the officer they intended to fire him. At this point, he was no longer to allowed to wear his badge. The city later moved settle the case. U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford wrote that "Requiring Rincon to attend 'pat-down' training is weak sauce that does nothing to hide the unpleasant taste of complicity...At the end of the day, the City put Rincon back onto the streets to continue arresting women despite a pattern of sexual harassment allegations." In January 2012, press reports indicated the Fullerton Police Department was the subject of a lawsuit concerning tow trucks in the city. The suit claimed that officers systematically harassed and intimidated tow truck drivers from companies not preferred by the department. In March 2012, press reports indicated a Fullerton police corporal was charged with destroying his digital audio recorder after the apparent jailhouse suicide of a person he had arrested. Corporal Vincent Thomas Mater detained Dean Francis Gochenour for driving under the influence and took him to the Fullerton jail. Two hours later Gochenour was found hanging dead in his holding cell. When it was found Mater's recording device had been damaged, he was placed on paid leave and later fired. In November 2012, Mater pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of destruction of property and vandalism and was sentenced to probation. Kelly Thomas On the night of July 5, 2011, Fullerton police responded to reports of a man