NORTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Friday 5/11/2018 UPDATE: The officer has resigned. CLICK HERE to read the latest story.
Thursday 5/10/2018 ORIGINAL STORY: Alpharetta police have suspended an officer and opened an internal investigation into his conduct after he used profanity and forcefully grabbed a 65-year-old diabetic grandmother during a traffic stop.
Video, released to Channel 2's Mike Petchenik after an open records request, shows the confrontation at Ga. 400 and Windward Parkway last Friday night.
“I’m going to be honest with you, I felt violated,” Rose Campbell told Petchenik. “I felt not only that my space had been violated, but that he was not respecting me.”
Police told Petchenik it started after officer Michael Swerdlove pulled Campbell over for failing to maintain her lane.
“The vehicle was making a turn off Windward Parkway, swerved over into the officer’s lane almost causing a collision,” said department spokesman Howard Miller. “He started to issue her a citation for failure to maintain lane. The driver did not agree with the officer and attempted to debate the nature of the traffic stop.”
Campbell told Petchenik she didn’t want to sign the ticket because she believed it was an admission of guilt, so she asked to see a supervisor and refused to open her door.
“He told me he was giving me a citation for failure to maintain lane. I said for what? Everybody does that when a cop gives you a ticket, unless you’re wrong, you’re gonna ask why,” she said.
At one point during the stop, Swerdlove can be heard asking Campbell to exit her SUV, but she told him she would not until a supervisor arrived. That’s when the video shows him open her door and attempt to pull her out.
“All I felt was his whole body over me and I could feel the weight over me, grabbing at my belt,” she said.
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