Officer Arrested for Spitting on Woman, Calling Her a Racial Slur
A Georgia officer has been arrested and charged with simple battery and simple assault after allegedly bumping into a woman's car, then getting out of his vehicle and cursing her out, spitting on her, and calling her a racial epithet.
Michele Griffith, 27, told authorities that an off-duty officer named Thomas Sheats was following her closely and actually hit her car with his. She pulled into a parking lot, and Sheats got out of his vehicle and began yelling at her.
"Why the (expletive) you going 35 miles per hour on a 45 mile per hour road," Sheats allegedly said. "I could pass, you low life piece of (expletive) (racial epithet)," he added when Sheats suggested that he could have gone around her.
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Sheats then spit on Griffith, who was yelling so loudly that witnesses came out of stores and tried to prevent Sheats from leaving the scene. Unfortunately, they were unable to hold him, and he drove away. Several people did confirm Griffith's story and said that they saw Sheats spit on the young woman.
"He was in her face the entire time," eyewitness Tristan Holts told WSBTV. "It was wrong. Everything he did was wrong in my opinion."
Internal affairs immediately began an investigation into the incident, and Sheats was initially put on administrative leave without pay. However, he was later arrested and charged with simple battery and simple assault; he was able to post bond and will appear before a judge at some point.
"The Department is always concerned when an officer is accused of actions not fitting the core values of the Clayton County Police Department," the unit said in a press release.
According to reports, Sheats has had trouble with the law before. Two years ago he was arrested for domestic violence.
Griffith wants Sheats fired immediately and thinks that he does not deserve to wear his police badge.
"I want him gone. Period," she told the press.
