A police officer from the USA state of Arkansas shot himself to implicate a Hispanic suspect.
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A police officer in Arkansas who claimed he was shot during a traffic stop has been arrested after admitting to colleagues that he shot himself and staged the crime scene, authorities said.
England Police Chief Nathan Cook said he fired Houser on Monday after the officer admitted to investigators that he had lied. “To investigate and find out it’s self-inflicted just puts a whole different spin on it”.
Houser told local and state law enforcement officers that while on patrol that he had exchanged gunfire with a suspect who fled from him driving a sport utility vehicle south of England along State Highway 15.
An investigation conducted by the Arkansas State Police found information “contradictory to Houser’s initial statement”.
In the meantime, the suspect remained unknown as he was non-existent.
He faces a felony charge of filing a false police report and has been released on a $2,500 bond.
“There was no stop, there was no shooting, except for him shooting his own uniform shirt”, said Chief Cook.
Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley says Houser has no attorney.
Houser was hired by the department in October 2013, Cook said, adding that the department does not plan to re-examine any of Houser’s arrests during his employment.
“We had a few concerns from the beginning which we followed through the course of the investigation”, said Chief Cook.
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“Obviously he needs a few help to have fabricated a shooting incident and to shoot yourself and claim you were shot at by someone who doesn’t exist”, Cook said.
