February 23, 2012
Case # 12NF0476
Orange County District Attorney's Office
SANTA ANA - A former police officer has been charged with stealing over $60,000 from a charitable police officers' football organization.
Kirk Robert Lotzgesell, 43, Winchester, is charged with one felony count of grand theft and faces a maximum sentence of three years in state prison if convicted. The defendant was arrested today by the Brea Police Department (BPD) and is being held on $60,000 bail. He is expected to be arraigned Monday, Feb. 27, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. in Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana.
The Orange County Cop Bowl Association (OCCBA) is comprised of police officers who play football against other police and fire football teams to raise money for youth scholarships. Since its inception in 1978, OCCBA has raised over $1 million for charity.
Lotzgesell was a police officer with the La Habra Police Department until January 2006. In 2007, he is accused of volunteering as the unpaid treasurer for OCCBA after misrepresenting himself to the organization as a current police officer on medical leave.
As treasurer for the organization, the defendant is accused of having access to all of the teams' finances and being responsible for writing OCCBA accounting and check-writing.
Between 2007 and 2009, Lotzgesell is accused of stealing over $60,000 from OCCBA by writing checks to himself and making ATM withdrawals from the organization's accounts. He is accused of spending the stolen money on personal expenses and bills.
OCCBA began reviewing their finances and discovered the theft after being contacted by the Internal Revenue Service regarding a failure to file tax returns.
The case was reported to BPD, who investigated this case.
Deputy District Attorney Daniel Underwood of the Major Fraud Unit is prosecuting this case.
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