This story was originally printed by the Daily Post on March 10, 2023, after a great deal of research and interviews. However, sometimes our competitors pick up our stories, re-write them and pretend they’ve got a scoop. Why settle for rehashes of the news when you can get the original story by picking up the Post in the mornings.
Editor’s note: This story contains adult content. It is not recommended for younger readers.
BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
A Mountain View police officer joked on social media about serving chicken with semen in it to get revenge, measuring a cake pan with his penis, being attracted to his cousin and stepsister, and other cuisine-related sexual innuendos, according to documents from an Internal Affairs investigation obtained by the Post.
Officer Andrew Wong also took shots at fat people, Mexicans, vegans, Boy Scouts, blind orphans and Michael J. Fox in posts on his Instagram account, which was under the name “Officer Sprinkles” and consisted of pictures of food he made, his dog and captions.
A total of 46 posts were found to be reckless, reputation-damaging, sexually explicit or discriminatory based on race, medical conditions and sexuality, an investigation found.
Wong was suspended for 80 hours.
Below a picture of chicken stuffed with pesto and spinach, Wong wrote the caption: “If you want to get even with someone, cut a chicken breast like it’s going to be stuffed. Then ‘stuff’ it and take care of business (warm it up first) and serve it to them. You get back at someone who did you wrong while relieving the stress they caused you … two birds, one stone.”
Former Chief Chris Hsiung wrote in a memo to Wong that this post was “especially disturbing”
because Wong brought food in to share with his coworkers.
The Post used the California Public Records Act to obtain 340 pages of interview transcripts, memos, screenshots and spreadsheets related to the investigation, which the city released yesterday.
Wong couldn’t be reached for comment.
Hsiung, now the San Mateo County undersheriff, placed Wong on administrative leave and asked Lt. Scott Nelson to investigate in March 2021 after Wong’s posts were sent around in text messages among other officers.
Wong’s Instagram account was public, and he told Nelson that around 25 employees of the Mountain View Police Department followed him, records show.
Some officers regularly liked and commented on his pictures.
Below a picture of a salad on Feb. 5, 2021, Wong wrote: “It’s not Chipotle quality by any means, but you know the biggest difference between my house and Chipotle? When I go into the bathroom at home, I don’t have flashbacks of having sex with the extremely unattractive and overweight cashier with tattooed eyebrows. Just kidding, Rosa … you’re only moderately unattractive. Call me sometime.”
Wong posted a picture of barbecued ribs with a caption saying, “Fun fact about me. I feel the need to suck the meat off the bone until it’s completely bare. If only I went the other way, I’d be more popular.”
Wong created his account on May 27, 2020, and posted 128 times over the course of nine months, according to Nelson’s investigation report.
The first supervisor in the department learned about the account in January 2021, at the same time Wong was taking tests to get promoted to sergeant.
Wong was promoted to sergeant on Feb. 22.
The report doesn’t name who knew about or followed Wong’s account, or when Hsiung became aware of it.
Another sergeant told Wong he should “sanitize” his Instagram in early March, records show. Wong then changed his account name to “Immature Baker” and blocked most, but not all, of his coworkers and continued to post, records show.
Hsiung sent out a memo to the entire department on March 18 advising them to use social media responsibly, but Wong told Nelson that he never read it.
Hsiung initially suspended Wong for 120 hours in August 2021, but he reduced the suspension to 80 hours after Wong took responsibility and apologized.
Wong never made it past a probationary period as sergeant. Today, Wong is assigned to patrol and is paid over $200,000 a year, plus benefits. He has been with the department for at least 14 years.
“Every single one of these was an attempt at humor,” Wong said, according to an interview transcript.
Wong posted a picture of cupcakes on Jan. 1, 2021, and said they “look like the people on ‘My 600-lb Life’ after the bariatric surgery but before getting all the skin removed.”
He posted a photo of macaroons with the caption, “The cookie equivalent of incest porn. Looks so awful that you’re too embarrassed to admit to anyone you actually enjoy them.”
Wong posted a picture of sugar cookies and said that he took them to an orphanage for blind kids to frost.
“I got so upset with how poorly they did that I told them they’re lucky they can’t see the look of disappointment on their parents’ faces … because their eyes don’t work and their parents ditched them. Turns out their eyes do work for crying, just not for seeing,” he wrote.
There are 40 other posts with similar captions.
Wong told Nelson that he was having a hard time over the last year because of Covid restrictions, which allowed him to go only to work and to home.
“This was my outlet. It was my way of communicating with my friends, my way of bonding with my friends,” Wong said. “Again, I’m not saying what I did was right, not saying what I did was justifiable.”
Nelson asked Wong about his caption saying that a bowl of chili looked like he just drank from a hose in Mexico. Wong’s attorney clarified that it was a “poop joke” and he meant no offense to Mexican people.
“Would that concern you if there was a post in the newspaper of your local town saying, ‘Police officer posts diarrhea joke about drinking from a hose in Mexico’? Is that something you would want to happen?” Nelson asked Wong, according to a transcript.
Wong said no, but that he didn’t mean any disrespect.
Hsiung said in a memo that Wong’s posts were abhorrent and created alarm within the ranks of the department. Officers working for other agencies were aware of Wong’s posts too, Hsiung said.
“The offensive posts related to race, sexuality and those with disabilities cannot be minimized as you did in your interview, as merely misguided and failed attempts at sophomoric humor,” Hsiung wrote. “They must be addressed with the same seriousness as the tarnish they have created on our department.”
Hsiung has since left the department, and retired Chief Max Bosel is back in charge while the city looks for a permanent replacement.
Those are awful postings and show his poor judgement. In law enforcement, they need good judgement. Guess Mountain View PD is desperate because he should be fired.
Nah, he prob does damn good work. But really, cops deal with the underbelly of society almost exclusively. Gotta find ways to get through your shift without going crazy. On your watch, you see alot of crap and it makes you callous. Next time you see a pic of coroner working in their deployed curtain onsite, pay attention to the smiles of the people around them.
You would think that he would have been released not just because of the postings but due to the fact that he was warned by others and continued to post his “comedy.”
Some of it is funny, in the sick, depraved way I enjoy, but the secret to effective humor is knowing when and where to express it. As a cop, and under the spotlight in an anti-cop area, Wong really shouldn’t be on social media.
He needs to grow up. Poor judgment is an understatement. He’s a police officer, and a very offensive one. He continued to post because he didn’t care. If he can’t handle being a police officer without sick humor, maybe he chose the wrong profession.
This is how most cops act. He’s in trouble because he got caught and it’s gone public. This isn’t an isolated incident or a one-off. He probably got a mild hand-slap because he saved texts of his Chief and others that were far worse.
I don’t think most cops act like this. The cops who get caught get the media attention. This is how immature men act regardless of what they do for a living. It’s commonly referred to as a “man-child.” He admits himself that he’s immature in his screen name. Most adult men and women are mature. It’s human nature.
If he had worked for any private company, he would have been fired immediately. But, when you work for Government, especially LE, you get a free pass. The guy is a POS and should never be allowed to walk around with a gun and badge.
Wow. Just wow! Just by looking at his picture I can tell he is not all alright up there. How did he even pass the tests??? Oh yeah! I remember The cheating and favoritism. Bravo
Failed leadership