LAPD Sergeant Nabbed For Residential Burglary is a Tragedy of Epic Proportions.

Los Angeles, CA—I’m still reeling from the arrest of LAPD sergeant Lucien Daigle for a residential burglary at an upscale and gated home. He has the presumption of innocence but being caught covered in pepper spray with the proceeds of the crime contemporaneous with the nearby burglary is beyond ugly.

For now the San Bernardino Sheriff is refusing to release a booking photo of Sgt. Daigle. He will soon be ambushed by news photographers, at his home or when he appears in a courtroom.

KTLA-TV tracked down the victim of the crime who is a physician for a telephone interview. She related that the suspect pursued her aggressively in her own home until she courageously and successfully deployed the pepper spray she had obtained for protection from bears that roam this rural community. The victim is truly grateful to be alive today.

The victim is understandably shaken, frightened and has felt the need to avoid staying in her own home because the suspected burglar has been released on bail. We can all imagine what this violation of her privacy, life and wellbeing could be like.

Cops are not immune from the temptations to engage in crime. The sad truth is cops do succumb to corruption from time to time. Even corrupt cops however do have line they won’t cross. The cop that would extort or steal from a drug dealer would be absolutely appalled at the thought of invading some innocent person’s home.

I’m trying to learn why the suspect targeted this woman’s home. Was there more to this than stealing valuables? Were there some serious mitigating factors that would cause a father of six children to commit such a reprehensible crime? Sgt. Daigle apparently had an unblemished record of 18 years of honorable service with department awards he had earned.

On the other hand is this the story of a prolific burglar who has used his police expertise to escape detection? I’m sure investigators have served search warrants and are painstakingly looking at that possibility right now.

I can’t help but feel pain for Sgt. Daigle’s family. How does his children cope with this disaster? How will they attend college without their father’s hard earned police pension? I’m sure these kids were so proud of having a role model father.

I feel for the victim who can’t face living in the dream home she worked so hard to buy. I want her to be safe, protected and somehow made whole after such an experience. Personally I’d replace the pepper spray with training and a suitable firearm.

I don’t want to see the life of any 44 year-old career cop flushed down the toilet for such a single foolish and evil act.

We can’t turn back the clock and undo all the damage. The reality is lives were changed forever and the trust in the men and woman trusted to wear the badge of honor as a cop has been sadly tarnished.

The best thing for this cop is to face his demons in a very public way. He needs to seek treatment for himself and family. Normally fellow cops would shun and ignore a peer in this kind of a predicament. They need to step up and help Daigle’s family more then ever.

Daigle needs to find a new career perhaps helping others that may be on such a self-destructive path. Daigle needs to save his own life today.