DETROIT (WXYZ) — A Detroit police officer is suspended and under investigation after a woman says he stole intimate videos and photos from her phone while she was in custody.
Samantha Thomason says the officer sent intimate videos and a nude photo from her phone to himself while she was detained following a traffic stop. Detroit police confirm the officer is under investigation and was arrested earlier this week.
Watch the video report below:
"It is just kind of like scary to think that you're someone who is here to protect people, that's your job, that's what you're supposed to do, and yet you chose to do something like that," Thomason said.
Thomason says the incident began late Tuesday night when she first encountered the officer at a gas station on the city's east side. She was later pulled over at Harper and Morang avenue for driving without insurance and arrested on a probation violation warrant out of Canton.
Thomason says she suspected something was wrong after the officer got hold of her phone during the stop. She says she did not confirm what happened until she bonded out the following morning.
"When you initially first seen even the text just sent to the number, it was a sexual video off of my phone. So I already knew that was weird because I didn't have access to my phone at this time. The only people who had my phone were the two officers who arrested me," Thomason said.
Hear more from Samantha Thomason in the video player below:
Thomason says 12 items total were sent from her phone — 11 videos and one photo.
She says she texted the unknown number from a different phone with a direct message: "I will be reporting you because you sent my nudes."
Thomason claims the officer then showed up at her home shortly after.
"My boyfriend's brother, the one who wasn't there when we got pulled over, he answered the door and he was asking the officer what's going on? And he was like, is Samantha Thomason here? I have a warrant for her arrest," Thomason said.
"He asked him to see the warrant, but he wouldn't show him the warrant," Thomason said.
The officer eventually left, and Thomason called 911 to report him.
Sources told me the officer has less than five years on the force and worked in the 5th Precinct's Special Operations Unit. He was still in custody at the Detroit Detention Center as of Friday afternoon. Internal Affairs is investigating.
Detroit police released a statement on the allegations:
"This matter is being actively investigated. The involved officer was arrested and conveyed to the Detroit Detention Center for processing. The alleged actions are concerning and do not represent the overwhelming majority of Detroit Police officers who maintain a high level of conduct and professionalism that they have sworn to uphold. The officer has been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation. At the conclusion of the investigation, the findings will be submitted to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office for review."
Thomason says she wants the officer to face serious consequences.
"He should be in jail. He should, for one, definitely lose — you should not be a police officer at all," Thomason said.
Once the investigation is complete, the Detroit Police Department will turn the case over to the Wayne County Prosecutor for a charging decision.
