Minneapolis Cop Fired For Leaving Shift For Sex Multiple Times

MINNEAPOLIS — A Minneapolis police officer was fired for leaving his post to have sex with a woman on multiple occasions last fall.

Police Chief Brian O'Hara fired Officer Juan Alonzo Jr. in February, according to public records recently released.

On Sept. 2, 2022, Alonzo used Grindr — a dating app — to communicate with a resident and discuss meeting up for sex while he was in uniform and on duty.

On Sept. 3 and Sept. 26, data showed that Alonzo's squad car 563 was by the resident's home, which is not in the 5th Precinct and the squad was not shown to be assigned to service calls in that area.

During the internal affairs investigation, the resident confirmed that she had engaged in sexual activity with Alonzo multiple times within her home and that he was in full uniform.

She provided text messages substantiating meetings on Sept. 3 and Sept. 26.

Alonzo also admitted in his investigative interview that he met with a community member in her home and had oral sex performed on him while on duty and assigned to a district squad car.

Data also showed that Alonzo searched the woman's address in the Police Information Management System (PIMS) and obtained confidential/private data unrelated to official duties.

Alonzo contacted a phone number he obtained through the address search, believing it was for the woman's phone, but it was instead her roommate.

Alonzo admitted that he ran the address search to obtain the contact information outside the scope of official police duties and reported, "They would have been for personal reasons."

O'Hara found that Alonzo committed violations of the code of ethics, on-duty code of conduct, confidential records procedure, and vehicle responsibility.

"Officer Alonzo engaged in sexual relations while on duty, failing to act in a professional and ethical manner, and engaged in on-duty conduct that tarnishes or offends the ethical standards of the department," O'Hara wrote.

"Officer Alonzo failed to meet our standards when he used his police privileges to impermissibly access a community member's confidential and private data for personal use, potentially exposing the City and the Department to significant legal liability. Officer Alonzo took himself away from his assigned area, which left the community without the assigned law enforcement support. He did so using a police vehicle, in uniform, for personal reasons. Officer Alonzo’s conduct on the indicated dates undermines public trust and the trust MPD must have in its employees. Officer Alonzo’s conduct was unprofessional and violated the Minneapolis Police Department's ethical standards."