COUNTY, Ga. —
A DeKalb County police officer is under criminal investigation for beating up a man, then throwing him in jail on bogus charges.
Prosecutors dismissed those charges against Brian Peterson in November, and instead opened a criminal investigation on officer T.J. (Tarik) Crumpton.
"Let the punishment fit the crime. Your job is to serve and protect. It's not to beat up and handcuff and lie," Peterson told Channel 2 investigative reporter Jodie Fleischer.
Peterson said he was just trying to say goodnight to a group of women while on his way out of Dugan's sports bar.
"I was like, 'See ya'll later.' Then the officer turned around and looked at me like 'Don't you see me talking? Step off,'" Peterson said.
He said Crumpton, who was working off-duty security, followed him outside.
"I was like, 'Really? Are you going to lock me up for saying goodbye?' He said, 'I can lock you up for whatever I want to,'" Peterson said.
He said Crumpton handcuffed him and then knocked his feet out from under him.
"I hit the concrete. I feel blood running down my face. Once we get to the patrol car he throws me into it full speed and then he throws me on the ground," Peterson said.
He spent five days in jail for charges including interference with government property, a felony, for the damage to that patrol car. He lost his job, and had to explain it to his family.
"It was embarrassing, it was very hard," Peterson said.
He said it was even harder, when the department's Internal Affairs Unit waited three months to begin investigating.
The two officers Crumpton had called in for backup on the night of the incident didn't backup his story. Crumpton's lie detector test, showed deception.
He was found to have used unnecessary force, and profanity, and received a ten hour suspension as punishment.
"They know Brian did not do this from every witness we spoke to, except officer Crumpton," Mark Bullman, Peterson's attorney said.
Bullman said police should have contacted prosecutors immediately. But the charges weren't dropped until November, when Bullman provided Crumpton's records to prosecutors.
"There is absolutely no excuse for that man to have been remaining at the department, none," Bullman said.
In fact, Channel 2 filed an open records request to obtain a 2009 internal memo in which a supervisor recommended terminating Crumpton.
Maj. Lionel Higdon wrote, "Crumpton has repeatedly shown a pattern of misconduct that is indicative of someone who consistently uses poor judgment time and time again. His actions go beyond being aggressive to being reckless."
The memo continues, "He continues to fail to respond to corrective training and continues to be a liability, not only to himself, but the department, as well."
Crumpton's disciplinary history shows nearly 200 hours of suspensions for more than a dozen incidents. They include setting a suspect free to hide the fact that Crumpton was working an off-duty job without permission.
In 2008, he was disciplined for hitting a suspect who was already handcuffed. He also got in trouble for taking out a warrant on a woman who had filed a complaint against him, after a supervisor told him not to.
"DeKalb County taxpayers are still paying this cop's salary?" Fleischer asked Bullman.
"No question," Bullman replied, "By a person who in my opinion has committed felonies."
The DeKalb Police Chief declined Fleischer's request for an interview about how his department handled this situation.
Officer Crumpton also told Fleischer he could not discuss it, and referred her to his attorney, who did not return calls.
Crumpton is now on restricted duty pending the outcome of the criminal investigation.