ALPHARETTA, Ga. — A veteran Atlanta Police officer is apologizing for a drunken incident at an Alpharetta hotel that ended with police shocking him with a Tazer and arresting him.
Scott Perry pleaded guilty Tuesday morning to disorderly conduct in Alpharetta municipal court.
“I’m very sorry I’m here in front of you in your court,” Perry told Judge Lee Whiteside.
“I suspect you are, sir,” the judge replied. “Needless to say, you should know better.”
Alpharetta police said Perry was extremely drunk in September when he groped patrons at a hotel bar, then became combative with officers in his hotel room, urging them to tase him.
“Mr. Perry, how much had you had to drink that evening?” the judge asked.
“No, your honor, I really don’t know,” he said.
Whiteside accepted a negotiated plea deal between Perry’s attorney and the city solicitor that netted Perry six months’ probation, a $250 fine, community service and anger management.
Perry will also be subjected to random alcohol and drug testing, and if he completes probation, Whiteside told him the case would be set aside.
“If you do not successfully complete the sentence, you’re going to be back here,” the judge said. “I’m going to take this document. I will tear it into little pieces and this one, too. I’m going to revoke that and put you in jail, sir.”
Whiteside told Perry he could have faced stiffer penalties, because he was initially charged with battery.
“If this was left up to me, sir to sentence you, we’d be talking about something entirely different, I can tell you that, sir,” the judge said.
Perry’s attorney Mike O’Hagan told Channel 2’s Mike Petchenik he blamed the officer’s behavior on the effects of a gastric bypass surgery he had last year.
He said alcohol affects Perry’s body differently now than it did prior to the surgery, and he became drunk more rapidly.
“There’s no rock big enough that he can crawl under to hide from the shame that he feels from what happened on this night,” he said. “Officer Perry made a horrendous mistake on the night in question. He’s brought dishonor to himself, the profession and the Atlanta Police Department.”
Atlanta police told Petchenik Tuesday that Perry remains on administrative leave, pending the outcome of an internal affairs investigation into the matter.
“Officer Perry faces punishment through the department, through POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training council),” said O’Hagan. “He’s missing out on extra jobs.”
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