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Nakamoto: BRPD officer on leave, under investigation after complaint of harassing DWI stop
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BATON ROUGE – A Baton Rouge Police officer is on administrative leave as the agency investigates a complaint from a woman who said a police officer touched and kissed her instead of taking her to jail on suspicion of driving drunk.
"The officer involved in the stop indicated to her that he can arrest her for DWI or cite her for DWI but will not do so because she's pretty," her attorney, Ron Haley told WBRZ.
The woman, who WBRZ has made an editorial decision not to identify, said the incident happened on June 23 between 2 and 4 in the morning.
The woman was not arrested and filed an internal affairs complaint the following day.
Sources with knowledge of the investigation said the woman was stopped by the officer and led to a nearby warehouse where the officer touched and kissed the woman.
"There was touching by this officer on the body parts of my client," Haley said. "There was no sex or penetration but she was uncomfortable with the situation that she blames herself for putting herself in."
The woman was stopped along Burbank Drive and drove to an abandoned warehouse near the Hollywood Casino at the officer's instructions.
"Instructs my client that if she does not want to get arrested she will follow him to an undisclosed location," Haley said. "In fear of being arrested, she gets in her car and does what the officer says."
WBRZ has made an editorial decision to not release the officer’s name, pending the outcome of the internal investigation.
The WBRZ Investigative Unit has learned the officer was reprimanded previously for a message thread that appeared to have racial undertones.
There was no immediate details on how long an internal investigation into the recent complaint could last.
Police did not release information about if the officer was wearing a department-issued body camera, if the officer was driving a police car with an onboard camera or what, if anything, the cameras may have captured related to the complaint.
The officer who is currently under investigation was hired in 2015.
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