A Los Angeles Police Department officer was taken into custody following an online predator sting conducted by a civilian vigilante group in Monrovia, local law enforcement confirmed. The officer, identified as 31-year-old Leonardo A. Ruiz, was arrested late last week after members of a group calling itself Yn_vs_preds confronted him and later handed him over to police.
Monrovia Police Capt. Sarah Corravabias stated that local officers responded to the 300 block of West Olive Avenue shortly before 10 p.m. on Thursday. Following an investigation at the scene, Ruiz was arrested for an alleged violation of California Penal Code section 288.4, which covers arranging a meeting with a minor, or someone believed to be a minor, for lewd purposes. Corravabias noted that Ruiz stated he was an employee of the Los Angeles Police Department during the encounter. He was subsequently released pending further investigation.
Ashton Corona, a leader of the Yn_vs_preds group, stated that he communicated in an online chat group for three days while posing as a 16-year-old girl before the suspect agreed to meet in Monrovia. Corona said he had no initial knowledge that the man was a police officer. According to Corona, the suspect arrived at the designated location and attempted to flee multiple times before being detained.
Video footage posted to Instagram by the vigilante group documents the confrontation. The recording shows several men chasing a man down the street while shouting at him to stop, eventually tackling him to the ground. During the struggle, the man is questioned about his presence at the location and briefly claims to be 17 before attempting to run away again. The video later shows group members examining the man’s mobile phone, where an LAPD badge is visible on the screen, before Monrovia police arrive and lead the individual away in handcuffs.
Ruiz is listed as an active officer on the LAPD departmental roster. Capt. Mike Bland of the LAPD issued a statement in response to inquiries regarding the video and images, confirming the department’s awareness of the arrest. Bland stated that the department is fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation. Corona added that he was later interviewed by investigators from the Los Angeles Police Department’s internal affairs group after turning the suspect over to municipal authorities.
The incident highlights the growing prevalence of civilian predator-hunting groups modeled after television programs like “To Catch a Predator.” While these internet-based sting operations have proliferated across the country, law enforcement and legal experts have frequently criticized them for taking investigative actions into private hands, noting that such confrontations can potentially endanger both the participants and their targets while complicating formal legal proceedings.
