A former Atlanta police officer was accused of aggravated assault and different crimes after he allegedly pointed his gun at a Black lady and referred to as her a racial slur throughout a street rage incident earlier this yr, in response to data obtained Friday by NBC Information.
Robert Malone, who’s white and nonetheless labored for the Atlanta Police Division when the Could 5 encounter occurred, was additionally accused of violation of oath by a public officer, cruelty to youngsters and possession of a firearm, jail data present.
In response to a police report, a lady leaving a shopping mall east of downtown Atlanta was turning left when she almost struck a black Chevrolet Camaro. Malone, who was driving the Camaro, was off-duty however in uniform on the time, a police spokesman mentioned.
The girl advised police that the officer honked his horn, yelled a racial slur and mentioned he would “blow her brains out,” in response to the report.
The girl and her youngsters, who had been additionally within the automobile, noticed the driving force allegedly pointing a gun at them by means of his windshield, in response to the report.
When the lady and her boyfriend approached Malone’s automobile, he denied pointing his gun and left the scene once they yelled at him, in response to the report.
The girl advised NBC affiliate WXIA of Atlanta that the encounter lasted a number of minutes whereas they had been caught in site visitors. Three of her youngsters had been within the automobile on the time, she advised the station.
“That put the most important concern in them, like simply seeing that gun being pointed at them,” she advised the station. “After which, my 11-year-old holding my 8-year-old daughter’s head down to guard her, telling her the gun is pointing proper right here. I cried that night time — that damage.”
The girl, who the station didn’t title and whose face was not seen within the interview, didn’t instantly return a message left on a quantity listed below her title Friday night time.
She advised the station that she flagged down one other officer who was close by dealing with an unrelated crash.
Malone later advised the officer through radio that he left space as a result of he did not wish to “infuse” the state of affairs, in response to the report.
Malone was booked June 28 and launched on bond the next day, jail data present. A police division spokesman declined to touch upon the allegations, citing an energetic investigation.
Prices haven’t been filed within the case, in response to Malone’s lawyer, Brian Tevis. A spokesman for the Fulton County District Lawyer’s Workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Malone was employed in September 2009 and resigned from the division July 12, a police spokesman mentioned. He left for “private causes fully unrelated to those false allegations,” Tevis mentioned in an e mail.
Tevis accused the lady and her boyfriend of constructing “inaccurate and inconsistent claims from the beginning.”
“As a result of the matter remains to be below investigation, all I can say additional at the moment is we’ll vigorously battle these false allegations and look ahead to the reality popping out,” Tevis mentioned.
Kurt Chirbas contributed.
