Nick Lopez was born and raised in Whittier, CA. He graduated from California High School in 2002. He attended the Rio Honda Police Academy and graduated in 2006. He began his law enforcement career with Tustin Police Department as an Officer in the South Area Patrol Division. In 2008, he was selected to join the Gang Unit as a detective. In his spare time, Officer Lopez enjoys trips to the desert with his friends, BBQs with his family and running with his dog Sierra.

On Tuesday, September 14, 2010, two armed suspects entered the Walgreens located at 13052 Newport Ave in Tustin and committed a takeover style robbery. The suspects brandished weapons and assaulted two employees. When the manager was unable to open the safe, one suspect brutally pistol whipped her. The suspects fled with cash from the register. It was later determined that this robbery was related to a series of ten similar Walgreens robberies in Los Angeles and Orange County.
Shortly afterwards, Officer Lopez was assigned the case and began an exhaustive investigation of cell phone and background records in an attempt to identify and locate the two main suspects. As the investigation unfolded, Officer Lopez discovered that one of the suspects, Tyreon “Don Don” Mooring, a documented P-Stone Crip gang member, had recently been arrested for an illegal drug sales charge and he was currently being housed in the men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles. As Officer Lopez reviewed the phone records, he discovered several Los Angeles based phone numbers that were being used in the Tustin area at the time of the robbery. Officer Lopez discovered Mooring had a “road dog” by the name of Lorenzo “Sticks” Robertson who he had committed an earlier robbery with and who was currently on informal probation for that robbery.
Once Officer Lopez received a positive identification of Robertson from the victims in our robbery he quickly set out to locate and arrest him. However, with Robertson on an informal probation, he was not required to report to a probation officer, and he had given false addresses to every law enforcement agency he had been contacted by and was living on the streets. Not to be deterred, Officer Lopez began identifying Robertson’s family members in hopes that Robertson would return to one of their residences. Officer Lopez put together a surveillance operation with Special Investigations and the Gang Unit. After three days of surveillance, Robertson was observed leaving his mother’s house with his mother driving. With the assistance of LAPD, Robertson was eventually taken into custody without incident. Robertson is currently awaiting trial in OCJ on a $1,000,000 bail.

It is this determination and attention to detail that truly reflects the professionalism this department’s personnel strive to achieve as we carry out the Community Governance mission. For Officer Lopez’s relentless pursuit for justice and his exemplary performance throughout this investigation, Officer Lopez has been selected as Officer of the Month – February 2011. Congratulations Officer Lopez!