(SHREVEPORT, LA) – A Shreveport police officer has been placed on paid leave while he is under investigation after cell phone video surfaced of him berating and cursing a young man who had been the subject of a loud-music complaint.
Police Chief Alan Crump ordered the investigation Sunday by the Police Department’s internal affairs office. A statement issued by the Police Department said Officer Gary Thomas is seen “engaging a man in a manner not in line with departmental practices.”
Monday afternoon, Crump’s office issued another release updating Thomas’ status.
Thomas and another officer were investigating a neighbor’s complaint of loud music. The cell phone video shows Thomas, an eight-year veteran, yelling and cursing at the young man. Another person can be heard telling the person the incident would not have happened had he turned his music down.
“Record me whipping his ass,” Thomas said after being told the altercation was being recorded by cell phone.
“I’ll put my hands on you any f—— time!” Thomas said to the argumentative young man, who can be seen trying to slap the officer’s hands away. “…If you don’t get up, I’m going to make you get up.”
The recording ends as the two officers lift the young man up by his arms and move him off the porch of the house. No blows were exchanged.
The location of the incident and the name of the young man are not confirmed.
Thomas was arrested in May 2017 for domestic violence against his wife. Police said they were called after the wife was prevented from leaving the couple’s home. He was fired but later won reinstatement by the Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board.
Thomas was accidentally shot and wounded by a fellow officer in March 2017 when the officer fired at a charging dog and missed.
Thomas, 36, was hired by SPD in February 2010.