LAPD Officer Who Detained 'Django Unchained' Actress Says He May Be Getting Fired
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| Sgt. Jim Parker during Daniele Watts detainment |
The LAPD officer who leaked the audio recording of Django Unchained actress Daniele Watts being detained to TMZ last month says he thinks he'll be losing his job.
Sgt. Jim Parker, a 25-year LAPD veteran, told The Wrap that he's been put in a "penalty box" while the LAPD is investigating his conduct. He said, "I can't wear a uniform, I can't be on patrol and I can have no civilian contact."
Just yesterday, Watts and her boyfriend, raw food chef Brian Lucas, were both charged with lewd conduct in public for allegedly having sex in their car with the doors wide open in broad daylight on Sept. 11. When Parker responded to the call, he handcuffed and detained Watts after she refused to show authorities her ID, but later let her go, saying that there was no evidence of any crime committed. However, the couple argued that officers racially profiled them because Watts is black and Lucas is white, and said the officers acted like Lucas was a john and Watts his prostitute.
Parker thinks he's in more hot water than Watts. He told The Wrap, "I've got more charges against me than she has against her." The LAPD is charging him with insubordination for giving TMZ an audio recording that revealed the conversations he had with Watts during her detainment, he said.
Even though he was ordered by the LAPD not to talk to the media, he defended his actions to the L.A. Times in an interview last month: "I had to make a decision. We were facing another racial, tumultuous incident in L.A. I said, 'This has to stop right away.' I drove to my work station, grabbed the recording and called TMZ. It stopped the next day."
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