A cop involved in the arrest of champion golfer Scottie Scheffler is accused of stealing $4,000 from a suspect.
Louisville Metro Police Department officer Javar Downs was arrested on Friday after the man complained his money was taken during a traffic stop.
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.
Scheffler was arrested on May 17 and booked into jail after not pulling over while on his way into the club for his second round at the PGA Championship
Louisville Metro Police Department officer Javar Downs was arrested on Friday after the man complained his money was taken during a traffic stop
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.
Downs 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.
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.
Downs was charged with theft of more than $1,000 and official misconduct
Downs was reprimanded in the aftermath of the Scheffler saga for failing to turn on his bodycam during the arrest
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 filmed 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.’