GARDEN GROVE, Calif. A concerned father seized a police officer's camera and gun after tackling the off-duty cop at a Garden Grove strawberry festival on Saturday. The father caught the officer taking photos of young children at the event, police said on Monday.
Mark Dornan told KCAL 9 that he noticed the cop photographing his 5-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son at the Strawberry Festival in Garden Grove.
"He came up and tried to sneak a picture of my daughter climbing out of this wagon in a short dress," Dornan told the news station.
Dornan chased the officer and said the man trying to delete photos from his camera as he fled. Dornan tackled the cop and found his colt commander .45 automatic weapon tucked in the man's shorts.
Garden Grove police confirmed Dornan's story, but refused to identify the officer. Dornan said the man he tackled was a Los Angeles Police officer, but Garden Grove Police would only say that he was "a Los Angeles County law enforcement officer." Though the man was not arrested, police confiscated his camera. They gave back the his weapon as the officer is licensed to carry a gun.
Authorities said the photos of the children were not considered pornographic.
"Right now, this whole thing is getting blown way out of proportion," Garden Grove police Sgt. Jim Fischer said.
Police did not discuss the images that were allegedly found on the camera, but said only that they were not enough to arrest the man for a criminal offense, according to Garden Grove police Sgt. Mike Martin.
It is currently unclear if charges will be filed a against the officer, though the incident has been referred to investigators at the Garden Grove Police Department.
When Dornan seized the gun and camera, he found photos of his children and other youths attending the Garden Grove family festival. Dornan said the pictures were not innocent.
"It must have been a pedophile's dream," Dornan said of the festival
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