A guest at a Buckhead apartment complex says an Atlanta police officer choked, handcuffed and let him fall into a pool.
Rafael Hernandez was visiting his friend Sunday at the Cambridge at Buckhead Apartments about 2 a.m. when Marcus Polain, the property manager, told them the pool closed at 10 p.m., according to a police report.
An Atlanta police officer, who works as a courtesy officer at the apartments, arrived to find the man drunk. Hernandez refused to leave multiple times, telling the officer he was an attorney who “knew his rights,” according to the report.
“We know that our officer responded to a belligerent person at the pool,” Atlanta police spokesman Sgt. Warren Pickard told Channel 2. “We called backup and other officers responded to the scene.”
Hernandez refused to leave multiple times, telling the officer he “would have [his] job and put him on the daily news.”
More officers showed up and, when Hernandez tried to leave, he allegedly shoved the courtesy officer.
He was arrested and taken to Grady Memorial Hospital to be treated.
But Hernandez tells a different story.
The American University law student, told Channel 2 the officer was wearing a T-shirt and shorts, did not identify himself and repeatedly called him “amigo.”
“I just told him, ‘Hey, I speak English,’” Hernandez said.
As he was leaving, the officer stood in his way and said, “Oh, you just touched me,” Hernandez told Channel 2.
Hernandez said the officer choked, handcuffed and left him by the side of the pool. When he moved, he fell 3 feet into the pool.
“I screamed, ‘Don’t let me die,’” Hernandez said, “and ‘Please just get me out of the pool.’”
Hernandez is charged with disorderly conduct, obstruction and trespassing.
“These people are risking their lives to protect us,” Hernandez said, “but a few people who do that job do it wrong.”
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