A veteran Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer with 15 years of service made a swift exit from the force after being caught red-handed pocketing $900 from a suspect in his custody back in March.
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Officer Henry Chapman, the thief in blue, cleverly disabled his body camera before taking the cash, but his sneaky maneuver was foiled when the suspect raised the alarm and urged other officers to search Chapman. Lo and behold, the missing money was discovered stashed in Chapman’s car driver’s side door, all captured by body cameras. Chapman now faces charges of embezzlement and tampering with his camera.
CMPD reported that a man was initially stopped by a motorcycle officer for speeding, but things took a twist when it was discovered that the man had an outstanding U.S. Marshals warrant for a weapons violation. During a search, the officer found two bundles of cash, one of which was neatly secured with a rubber band.
Shortly after, Chapman arrived in a police vehicle and escorted the suspect to the backseat. The motorcycle officer then placed all the man’s belongings in the front of the patrol car, beside Chapman’s driver seat. Body camera footage captured Chapman’s journey to a police facility, although the camera mysteriously shut off around 5:10 p.m. when the vehicle was parked.
Subsequently, another video surfaced showing the man accusing Chapman of pocketing nearly $1,000 from him.
“Look, no cap, I’m not even going to touch it, there’s blue hundreds right here, it’s all blue hundreds right there, behind that receipt,” the man said. “Thank you, all that is my money, he didn’t have that.”
Another officer then responds and asks the man, “this is your money?” to which the man replied, “Yes, I heard him crumple it up. Thank you, thank you, all that’s being recorded, right?”
Six hours after the theft, officer Chapman found himself in handcuffs, facing charges of embezzlement. The very next day, he bid farewell to his 15-year tenure on the force. Chapman also landed in hot water with two infractions related to body-worn camera and compliance laws.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings released a statement on Monday, saying that “the actions of former Officer Chapman were a contradiction to what we stand for.”
His colleagues were just standing there concerned about how much was the total amount instead of supporting the poor guy. You can tell that they were feeling sorry for the corrupt cop and still figuring out how could they cover up his corruption. Thanks to the body cam footage and the former officer is used to this. Please keep us updated about his sentencing.
That young man knew exactly what he was talking about. I clearly understand why he did not want to give them an answer as to how much money he had because he knew some was missing and if he had given an amount; they would have gone with that. He was very smart and well-mannered. It is a shame we can not even trust the ones that are supposed to serve and protect. And then he leaves the force after 15 years the next day. I am glad that they were able to find his money and the officer was charged. You can’t really trust anyone anymore.