All it takes is a few seconds of watching the video to see that Shreveport police officer Gary Thomas has a hard time keeping his temper in check.
That is why it shouldn’t be surprising to learn the Louisiana cop was arrested last year for domestic violence against his wife in an incident that led to his termination.
However, charges were dismissed months later and he was rehired after appealing.
On Monday, the 36-year-old cop was placed on paid suspension after the video surfaced, showing him screaming in the face of a teenager who was sitting on a front porch of a house.
The video is less than a minute long, so it does not show what led up to the tirade but it is apparent that Thomas was responding to a complaint over loud music.
According to KTBS:
Police Chief Alan Crump ordered the investigation Sunday by the Police Department’s internal affairs office. A statement issued by the Police Department said Officer Gary Thomas is seen “engaging a man in a manner not in line with departmental practices.”
Monday afternoon, Crump’s office issued another release updating Thomas’ status.
Thomas and another officer were investigating a neighbor’s complaint of loud music. The cell phone video shows Thomas, an eight-year veteran, yelling and cursing at the young man. Another person can be heard telling the person the incident would not have happened had he turned his music down.
“Record me whipping his ass,” Thomas said after being told the altercation was being recorded by cell phone.
“I’ll put my hands on you any f—— time!” Thomas said to the argumentative young man, who can be seen trying to slap the officer’s hands away. “…If you don’t get up, I’m going to make you get up.”
Thomas, who was hired in February 2010, was shot in the foot by a fellow cop in March 2017 after another cop struck him while trying to shoot a dog.
He was arrested for domestic violence in May 2017 when he shoved his wife to the floor, then prevented her from leaving.
Charges were dismissed in November 2017, most likely because his wife chose not to pursue charges against him as is the case in many domestic violence cases.
The fact that he was reinstated is nothing new for the Shreveport Police Department, which reinstated nine cops out of 18 who were fired from 2014, according to a May 2017 investigative news story by KSLA.
