Baton Rouge officer resigns following misconduct allegations
- Troy Lawrence Jr. resigned after allegations of brutally beating a man
- Victim’s attorney describes site of the beating as a 'torture warehouse'
- Lawrence was also the subject of a lawsuit for yanking a woman from her car
(Getty Images)
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(NewsNation) — A Baton Rouge police officer at the center of a previous lawsuit that accused him of illegally detaining a woman during a 2020 traffic stop has resigned in the wake of new allegations, the mayor’s office said.
Officer Troy Lawrence Jr. was placed on paid leave earlier this month. He resigned Tuesday, according to East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome.
A report by WAFB revealed a new lawsuit filed by a man who claims Lawrence and several other Baton Rouge Police Department officers brutally beat him inside a BRPD interrogation facility known as the “Brave Cave.”
An attorney representing the man described the site as a “torture warehouse” and a “black site,” according to the report.
Broome said she directed police Chief Murphy Paul to suspend all operations at the facility pending a “thorough investigation” by BRPD. She also said that she was previously unaware of the facility’s existence.
“The severity of these allegations deeply concerns me, especially given the potential impact on the trust our community places in us — a trust we’ve worked tirelessly to establish and maintain during my administration,” Broome wrote in a statement.
BRPD didn’t provide details about why Lawrence had been placed on paid leave.
In 2021, Lawrence was also the subject of a lawsuit. Shermaine Reed, 28, said Lawrence shouted at her and forced her out of her vehicle on October 31, 2020, when she traveled to help her sister, who had been in a car accident, The Advocate reports.
Lawrence arrived at the scene and muted his body camera video. According to the lawsuit, Reed told Lawrence he was acting inappropriately, to which he responded by shoving her and telling her with vulgar language to get back in her car.
BRPD ruled his behavior fell in line with policies on the use of force but determined that he had violated policies regarding officer conduct and body camera use and initially issued him a two-day suspension.
That suspension was later downgraded to a letter of reprimand after Lawrence sent Paul a request for reconsideration.
BRPD agreed to pay Reed $55,000 in damages after parish attorneys refused her initial settlement demand of $40,000 and an apology from Lawrence.
