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Two Cops Placed On Leave Over Rihanna Photo
Remember that photo depicting a bruised and battered Rihanna that surfaced a couple of weeks after Chris Brown was arrested for assaulting the singer in February? Two Los Angeles police officers have been placed on paid leave as part of an investigation into who leaked the photograph.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the two officers are Rebecca M. Reyes and Blanca Lopez. The Times attributes this information to, you guessed it, unnamed sources.
Photo: AP Photo
Arriving at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala in New York.
In other words, the latest news about who might have leaked the photo comes from another leak, perhaps from inside the investigation itself.
The Times reports Reyes and Lopez were once housemates, and that an attorney for Reyes confirmed that a search warrant in connection to the leak was served on her home. The attorney – Ira Salzman – also confirmed Reyes had been placed on paid leave, but like all good lawyers, stressed his client’s innocence.
“My client did not do anything for financial gain,” Salzman told the Times. “She did not sell the photo.”
The image originally appeared on gossip site TMZ and depicted Rihanna shortly after the assault. Along with trying to nail down who leaked the photograph, investigators are also trying to determine how TMZ got a hold of it and whether any money changed hands.
It is illegal in California for police officers or law enforcement workers to profit from leaking information.
Meanwhile, Rihanna’s attorney, Donald Etra, says his client had “nothing but praise for the LAPD.”
Click here for the complete Los Angeles Times article.