LOS ANGELES—Traffic officer John K. Dancler, a 23-year veteran of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, was fired Monday by the Civil Service Commission for his all-too-brief and unplanned appearance in an adult video that was being shot on a Los Angeles street in 2008. Dancler’s attorney, Bobby Samini, called Dancler a “convenient scapegoat,” according to the Los Angeles Times, and filed an appeal with the Commission the same day his termination was announced.

"There are going to be a lot of facts that are going to come out regarding what happened after the incident that will paint a very unpleasant picture for the city," promised Samini.

According to the Times, “Dancler was dismissed for engaging in misconduct on the job and in uniform, and participating in ‘indecent acts’ that reflected unfavorably on the city workforce," said Bruce Whidden, the commission's executive director. "Those acts included ‘groping the bare breasts, spanking the bare buttocks and being straddled by an adult video actress in public’ around March 2008, he said.”

AVN reported on the suspensions of Dancler and another traffic officer in May of this year after city officials were made aware, by way of a KNBC-TV Channel 4 report, of the existence of the video, titled "Back to the Streets," featuring Kylee Reese. The 47-minute video had been posted to the Brazzer’s website, AssesinPublic.com, in March 2008. While the unscripted portion of the video in which the officers appear is only a few minutes in length, and only seconds for Dancler, it was more than enough to bring them the unwanted attention and subsequent discipline.

“The action being investigated takes place at Tequila Sound and Auto Glass, located at 535 Gallardo Street in Los Angeles, where a traffic enforcement vehicle is either being picked up or about to be worked on,” AVN reported at the time. “It appears that the video crew was shooting randomly and stumbled upon the shop and the empty city vehicle sitting in the driveway of the shop. With the camera rolling and no officer in sight, Reese jumps in the driver’s seat and sticks her legs out the window while the cameraman and others are laughing.

“While she is still in the car, a traffic officer exits the shop office and moves to the car, opening the door so Reese can get out. He appears to get something from the car and then locks it. Reese encourages him to slap her butt but he just gives her a quick hug and then appears to go back into the shop, out of frame, while Reese and the camera crew continue to frolic in front of the shop with its employees.

“It is at this point that a second LADOT traffic enforcement car drives down the street and stops at the shop with the vocal encouragement of the video crew. A traffic officer [presumed to be Dancler] exits the car, whereupon Reese immediately runs and jumps into his arms and then encourages him to slap her butt, which he does, albeit a little reluctantly. The crew then tells her to pull her top down, which she does and he feels her breasts for a second. His encounter lasts all of 15 seconds, after which Reese and the crew move down the street and the entire LADOT episode comes to an end.”

It is those 15 seconds that the Commission determined “reflected unfavorable on the city.” The other officer in the video was given “appropriate discipline,” according to a LADOT spokesperson, but remains employed by the department.