LAPD Officer Charged With Assault and False Imprisonment

February 11, 2023

LAPD Probationary Officer Nicolas Enmanuel Quintanilla-Borja Charged After Alleged Armed Threats In Inglewood.

Los Angeles Police Department probationary officer Nicolas Enmanuel Quintanilla-Borja was charged in 2021 after prosecutors said he threatened to kill two men while off duty in Inglewood, including his cousin and a 64-year-old man who escaped and called 911.

Quintanilla-Borja, who was 29 at the time, was a probationary LAPD officer assigned to the department’s 77th Street Division. According to reports citing the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, he was charged with one count of false imprisonment by violence, one count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, and two counts of making criminal threats. Prosecutors also alleged firearm-use enhancements.

The case stemmed from an incident at an Inglewood residence in May 2021. Prosecutors said Quintanilla-Borja returned to his home and allegedly threatened to kill his 37-year-old cousin, who barricaded himself inside a room. He then allegedly went outside, made similar threats toward a 64-year-old man who also lived on the property, pulled out a gun, and pointed it at him. The man reportedly got away and called 911.

Inglewood police arrested Quintanilla-Borja after responding to a family disturbance call in the 3500 block of West 116th Street. Early reports said he was booked on $2 million bail. Quintanilla-Borja pleaded not guilty after the felony charges were filed.

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón issued a blunt statement after the charges were announced: “Wearing a badge does not give an officer the right to break laws.” That statement cut directly to the point. The allegations did not involve a split-second on-duty use-of-force decision. They involved an off-duty officer, a gun, alleged threats to kill, and people inside a home trying to get away from him.

LAPD Chief Michel Moore said Quintanilla-Borja’s police powers were removed and that he was assigned home while the matter was investigated. Moore also told the Police Commission that the officer was allegedly “significantly” under the influence at the time, and said the department would review how he was hired despite what Moore described as earlier accounts involving off-duty conduct and excessive alcohol use.

That part of the story may be just as important as the arrest itself. Quintanilla-Borja was reportedly hired by LAPD in January 2020, meaning he had been on the job for less than 18 months when the alleged incident occurred. If there were earlier warning signs involving alcohol and off-duty conduct, the public has every right to ask how those warnings were missed by a department that gives officers police powers, authority, and access to firearms.

The case also helped expose a broader LAPD policy problem. The Los Angeles Times later reported that, at the time, LAPD did not have a specific policy barring armed off-duty officers from drinking alcohol, even though other agencies had clearer rules. In January 2023, the Los Angeles Police Commission approved a policy tightening the rules for off-duty officers who carry firearms while drinking, including a 0.04% blood-alcohol threshold for armed off-duty officers.

As of a January 2023 VICE News report, the District Attorney’s Office said Quintanilla-Borja’s criminal case was still ongoing. No reliable public final disposition was located during review for this story, so this article should be read as a report on the charges and allegations, not as a conviction.

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