A cop involved in the Scottie Scheffler debacle flaunted a lavish life on social media until he was accused of stealing $4,000 from a suspect.
Louisville Metro Police Department officer Javar Downs, 39, was arrested on Friday after the man complained his money was taken during a traffic stop.
Downs seized an envelope with $10,000 in it but allegedly only turned $6,000 in to evidence, earning him two charges and an imminent firing.
But his social media pages didn’t present a man who needed to brazenly swipe thousands of dollars to get by.
Photos of fast cars, luxury holidays, classy threads, and an enviable $1 million home littered his posts, along with old snaps from his time as a soldier.
Downs posed with a Dodge Challenger SRT and a brand new silver Mercedes, and showed off the Acura he also bought new for his wife Cortney.
When he debuted the Mercedes last month, a friend asked why he had the ‘raggedy [Ford] Explorer’ in his garage instead of his new wheels.
‘I don’t feel like doing musical cars and moving the Explorer every-time I want to leave -I’m bout to just park it at the office honestly – until further notice,’ he replied.
Another photo showed a massive arrangement of flowers displayed on their kitchen bench, and elsewhere in the home.
Downs also took Cortney, who is chief equity officer for Kentucky Youth Advocates, on holiday to South Africa earlier that month – and other before that.
‘2023 was great to the wife and I. We took trips to Lake Tahoe, and Maui – and a couple road trips to Chicago,’ he wrote in December.
‘We still found ways to work on ourselves individually and as husband and wife. (S**t’s hardwork) BUT if you want it to truly work then you have to make an effort both personally and as a team.
‘I’m excited about the places we’re going in 2024 so stay tuned.’
Two weeks later he jokingly posted a photo of pieces of paper cut up to the size of banknotes with ‘100’ scrawled on them and tied up with rubber bands.
‘Manifest that s**t y’all, it’s 2024 we up!’ he wrote next to it.
Downs periodically reposts photos of his lavish wedding in 2015, set in a stunning location overlooking a picturesque lake.
Cortney earlier that year recalled how they met in 2013 when she was at the police academy to train the new recruits – including her future husband.
‘I remember joking about not showing up or calling in sick because the idea of teaching aspiring police officers about domestic violence and advocacy never sounds fun for anyone involved,’ she wrote.
‘Turns out, the only person I’d ever fall in love with was sitting in the front row.’
Downs also liked to show off his police and military commendations online, which were collected on a shelf in his home.
He also posted in April about two from the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office after he gave a speech.
‘I spoke to the AG’s kids probably a solid 45 minutes about life/careers that they want to pursue and offered my time at any point they seek it pursuing those goals,’ he wrote.
‘I’m not a big award guy BUT I do like to share some of them because often I was told by family, friends and strangers that ‘there’s something special’ about me.
‘So in case I leave this earth early doing this job, I want to give them affirmation that they were right to believe in me, trust me, and give me opportunities. So here’s another nod to your confidence and belief in me.’
Down in June wrote that he wanted to bring back his youth-focused non-profit organization, posting throwback photos of himself posing with teens in T-shirts with ‘our city, our community’ printed on them.
But there were signs his persona was only skin deep, such as a complaint in February about owing $34,000 in student loans.
Downs also complained about the cost of Invisalign, a clear plastic alternative to braces for straightening teeth, in a Facebook post on Thursday.
‘I need a Dark Web dentist because the prices I was just quoted at the dentist got me feeling like Jerome from Martin. Dawg. Need to rename Invisalign—To ‘Run ya pockets homie’,’ he wrote.
On his birthday in March 2023, he posted a link to his CashApp, writing: ‘What can you do for my birthday you wondering when I guy (sic) pretty much has everything – well you can always send some more cheese.’
Closer inspection of property records showed their 3-bedroom, 5.5-bathroom house, valued by Zillow at $1.07 million, was bought by Cortney’s parents Ralph and Tammy Dechabert for $875,000 in 2008 – and still in only their names.
Downs sometimes posted about his police department employer, both in positive and negative terms.
‘I know it’s been one shit storm after another, but we still need to inspire the next generation of Officers and STOP discouraging the job,’ he wrote last month.
‘There’s CLEARLY a need of GOOD women and men willing to do this job.
‘Be a part of the solution of vetting those people by uplifting and encouraging the best candidates in your community who want to do the job – like it or not we NEED YOU and YOU NEED US.’
But another post in November 2022 complained that the LMPD wasn’t doing enough to ‘inform the public’.
‘And there in lies the problem – from coverups, rapey psychos lurking in Thornton’s -Goofies throwing drinks on people, and the lack of just sharing information with the public good or bad is why I believe this place will likely NEVER TRULY CHANGE,’ he wrote.
‘It’s a culture problem. In the age of technology, social media, we consistently fail at the most simple thing over and over again—and that’s being honest and sharing information.’
But he stressed he wasn’t leaving the force or moving elsewhere as Louisville was his home.
‘I’m not claiming to be the best thing this department has hired—but I won’t embarrass my family in uniform. Period,’ he wrote.
Now, of course, he allegedly has.
Police explained Downs pulled the man over about 12.45am on Wednesday on Taylor Boulevard and allegedly found an envelope with $10,000 cash inside and seized it.
However, the envelope only had $6,000 inside when he turned it in to evidence at the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections, police alleged.
The suspect complained to the police department that he saw Downs take the cash for himself and put the rest in evidence.
Public Integrity Unit officers charged him with theft of more than $1,000 and official misconduct, and put him under internal investigation.
‘Chief [Paul] Humphrey has placed Officers Downs on emergency suspension, limited his police powers, and has begun the process of terminating the employment,’ police said.
Scheffler was arrested on May 17 and charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from an officer directing traffic.
Police alleged at the time that his ignored directions from officers directing traffic outside Valhalla Golf Club during the PGA Championship.
One officer then ‘attached himself’ to the side of Scheffler’s car and was ‘dragged to the ground’ and ‘suffered pain, swelling to abrasions to his left wrist and knee’.
Downs was reprimanded in the aftermath of the Scheffler saga for failing to turn on his bodycam during the arrest.
He wrote on a failure to record form that the footage would have shown Scheffler being dragged out of his car and taken into custody.
Down and fellow officer Kelvin Watkins were strongly criticized by their bosses for not activating their bodycams during the arrest.
He was defended by his direct supervisor Robert Ward, who wrote in his report that Downs didn’t have time to activate the camera due to his need to intervene in the ‘rapidly deteriorating situation’.
All charges against Scheffler were dropped by Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell on May 29.
‘Based upon the totality of the evidence, my office cannot move forward in the prosecution of the charges filed against Mr Scheffler,’ he said.
‘Mr Scheffler’s characterization that this was ‘a big misunderstanding’ is corroborated by the evidence.’
Scheffler was unaware of an accident at 5am that day where a security guard was run over by a bus outside the golf course, and was driving to the entrance not knowing of the changed traffic conditions.
‘This morning, I was proceeding as directed by police officers,’ Scheffler said in a statement after his arrest and release hours later.
‘It was a very chaotic situation, understandably so considering the tragic accident that had occurred earlier, and there was a big misunderstanding of what I thought I was being asked to do.
‘I never intended to disregard any of the instructions. I’m hopeful to put this to the side and focus on golf today.’