A man arrested on charges of impersonating a police officer is suing the man who put him in handcuffs.
Jefrey Scott Schultz was pulled over by Doraville police Officer J.E. Lowe after passing a stopped school bus in 2017, but the situation escalated when Schultz said he was an officer. He refused to tell Lowe where he worked, body camera footage obtained by Channel 2 Action News shows.
Schultz was fired by the Hapeville Police Department in 2007, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported, but now has a security company and has retained his peace officer certification.
A day after Schultz was pulled over, Lowe went to the man’s Cobb County home and arrested him for impersonating a police officer.
“Step away and put your hands on the car,” Lowe said as he walked into the Schultz’s garage.
“I'm POST certified. I've got my credentials in the car,” Schultz said, later adding that “I can't believe you're doing this to me.”
“You did it to yourself,” Lowe replied.
DeKalb County court records show Schultz pleaded guilty last December to passing the school bus, but the officer impersonation charge was dropped. Channel 2 reported the charge did not move forward because Schultz proved he was POST certified. (POST, which is short for the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, certifies law enforcement officers based on criteria set by the state.)
Now, Schultz is suing Lowe for wrongful arrest, the news station reported. He said news of his arrest — specifically the body camera footage — has hurt his reputation and business.
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A video posted to YouTube in March with the title, “Arrest of Police Impersonator Jefrey Scott Schultz” has garnered more than one million views. A separate video called “Cringeworthy Police Impersonator Jefrey Scott Schultz” has been viewed more than 800,000 times.
The videos were posted by the channel “Real World Police,” which posts videos of arrests, traffic stops and other police incidents. It has more than 196,600 subscribers. There is no apparent link between Lowe and the channel.
“The truth needs to be out there as to what took place and it’s wrong to abuse your authority in your job to intentionally try to hurt someone,” Schultz told Channel 2.
In a statement to Channel 2, Doraville police said, “We believe our officer acted appropriately as evidenced by the finding of probable cause by both a DeKalb County Magistrate judge and a Grand Jury for the arrest and indictment, respectively.” The department declined to comment further on the pending lawsuit.
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