Philadelphia police officer Richard DeCoatsworth, who was once hailed as a hero and saluted by President Obama, has been arrested. DeCoatsworth was at a party at a confidential location and came in contact with the two women at about 2 a.m. Thursday.
Police said that at the end of the party the two women left with DeCoatsworth, who took them to another private location. Allegedly, at the second location, DeCoatsworth pulled out a handgun and forced the two women to use drugs and perform sexual acts, NBC10 Philadelphia reported on Saturday.
As a rookie cop, he performed a deed which earned him an invitation to attend President Obama's first congressional address, and sat next to the First Lady Michelle Obama during the president's address. After being shot in the face by a suspect, he managed to chase him down for several blocks before collapsing. However, DeCoatsworth called in enough information by radio that police were able to track down and arrest the suspect later the same day.
However, since 2009, various incidents demonstrated a slide in DeCoatsworth's behavior as a cop. For instance, in 2009, local witnesses said that DeCoatsworth acted recklessly, along with another cop when bystanders said that a suspect they were tailing did nothing wrong, which ended when he and another fired while children were nearby.
In November, 2011, Internal Affairs investigated an alleged scuffle between him and another officer. DeCoatsworth also reportedly amassed nine citizen complaint, accusing him of assault, abuse and misconduct, before retiring from the police force on disability in December, 2011,
In February, 2012, an arrest warrant was issued for DeCoatsworth after he allegedly threatened a woman in Port Richmond, NBC10 Philadelphia also reported.
