Officer charged after allegedly breaking Wal-Mart customer’s leg

The Atlanta police sergeant was working off-duty security.

The Atlanta police sergeant was working off-duty security.

An Atlanta police sergeant was indicted on charges of excessive force related to an incident at Wal-Mart, where he worked off-duty security.

Trevor King, 48, of Rex, is accused of breaking a customer’s leg in 2014 at the Wal-Mart on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Atlanta, U.S. District Attorney spokesman Bob Page said in a news release.

King was allegedly dressed in his APD uniform and carrying a police baton when he tried to stop someone from leaving the store by grabbing his shirt and striking him several times.

“He wrongfully believed the customer had shoplifted,” Page wrote in the release.

Atlanta police spokesman Officer Lukasz Sajdak said King has been on paid administrative leave since the department became aware of the incident.

"Now that the indictment has been announced, Sgt. King will appear before the Chief who will make a determination regarding his continued status with the department," Sajdak said.

The case is being investigated by the FBI.

King is expected to be arraigned in federal court within the next week.