Clayton County police
Officer Thomas Sheats faces simple battery, simple assault and
disorderly conduct charges after spitting on a Black woman and calling her the
n-word, reports WSBTV.com.
Sheats has bonded out of
jail but has been placed on leave while the incident is under investigation.
Henry County police said
the incident began June 29 on Highway 155 in Locust Grove. Michele Griffith,
27, said that’s whereSheats followed her for miles, blowing his horn, driving
erratically and bumping her car.
Griffith said when they
pulled into a parking lot where she was going to get pizza, Sheats approached
her car and angrily shouted at her.
“Why the (expletive) you
going 35 miles per hour on a 45 mile per hour road,” Griffith saidSheats told
her.
she told Sheats he could have went around her. She said that’s when he really exploded.
she told Sheats he could have went around her. She said that’s when he really exploded.
“‘I couldn’t pass, you low
life piece of (expletive) (n-word)’ … and (he) spit on me,” Griffith said was
Sheats’ response.
Griffith said she was
horrified. She said Sheats was screaming so loud people came out of stores and
attempted to block him in until police arrived.
Some people wrote down his
tag number, as did Griffith. Police said some of the witnesses heard Sheats
cursing at Griffith and using a racial slur. One man said he saw him spit on
her.
Griffith said Sheats, who
wasn’t in uniform, drove away.
Tristan Holt works in the
shopping center, and said Sheats was out of control and in Griffith’s face.
“He was in her face the
entire time. It was wrong. Everything he did was wrong in my opinion,” he said.
More and more of these incidents
are coming to light.
As previously reported by NewsOne, a California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer was captured
on video brutally punching a woman in the face.
CHP officials claim that
the officer was simply trying to restrain the unidentified woman.
Prior to that, Ersula Ore, an English professor at Arizona State University who
was pushed and slammed to the ground by a police officer last month after
refusing to show identification, now faces felony charges for assaulting an
officer.
Arizona State initially
supported the actions of the officer and Dr. Ore has been placed on leave.