Fullerton officer charged with filing false police report

FULLERTON, Calif. (KABC) -- A Fullerton police officer has been charged with filing a false report after he claimed that a suspect resisted arrest but body camera footage showed otherwise.

Miguel Siliceo, 51, was charged on Wednesday with one felony count of false report by a peace officer, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

The alleged false report was filed last July when Siliceo and his partner were on patrol in downtown Fullerton.

Siliceo's report stated that he arrested a suspect for resisting arrest because he charged at Siliceo's partner during the arrest of another individual, the district attorney's office said.

After Siliceo filed his report, the district attorney filed charges against the suspect for one misdemeanor count of resisting arrest.

After the case was filed, footage was obtained from body cameras worn by other officers who were present at the time of the arrests of the suspect and the other individual.

According to the district attorney's office, this footage did not corroborate Siliceo's official account that the suspect charged at his partner.

Following this revelation, the resisting arrest charge against the suspect were dismissed, and the case was referred to the Special Prosecutions Unit for review for filing a criminal complaint against Siliceo.

While filing the false report charge against Siliceo, the district attorney's office also gave notice to the court and the defense that it may seek to introduce evidence regarding Siliceo's conduct in filing a fraudulent insurance claim in 1999.