Like many dimwitted cops before him who have fabricated ambushes on themselves, John Michael Goulart Jr. figured nobody would question his claims that he had been fired upon by an unknown assailant.
And like those cops before him, it took only days for that story to fall apart.
Goulart, 25, became the latest cop to find themselves behind bars after falsely claiming they had been attacked when an investigation revealed they had shot themselves. He was charged with one count of criminal mischief and one count of malfeasance, which can land him in prison for more than five years. He has been placed on paid administrative leave.
Prior to his arrest, the community of Pineville came out in full support of the officer, offering to raise money for him. Now many residents feel betrayed, according to their comments on the Pineville Police Department’s Facebook page. Goulart was hired in 2018. He is the son of a Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office, according to Heavy.
The incident took place in front of a strip shopping center on September 20 around 11:20 p.m., sparking a manhunt in the community of about 16,000 people about 100 miles northwest from Baton Rouge. Goulart was arrested two days later.
While police have not said what led them to discover Goulart was lying, it appears as if his actions were captured on a surveillance video, showing him shooting himself before reporting that he had been ambushed by an unknown assailant.
Pineville Mayor Clarence Fields called Goulart a “very good police officer” but said it was “unfortunate” he decided to fabricate the ambush story, especially considering “everything going on in America relative to relationships between police and the community,” according to the New York Times.
PINAC News has reported several instances of cops fabricating ambushes on themselves over the years, including the infamous case of Illinois cop Joe Gliniewicz who falsely claimed to dispatch in 2015 he had come under attack when an investigation determined he took his own life.
Last year, it was an Alabama cop named Keith Buchanan who claimed he had come under gunfire when it was actually him who shot up his own car as well as a Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy named Angel Reinosa.
