A North Carolina cop was charged with embezzlement after a man he arrested alleged that the officer stole $900 from him during a traffic stop in March.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Henry Chapman was charged by his own department on March 15, just one day after the traffic stop.
Police released bodycam footage showing the stop and the exchange Chapman had with a Black driver who accused him of stealing.
The footage shows Chapman and another cop pull 29-year-old Moncre Moon over for an outstanding warrant that stemmed from a weapons violation.
During the stop, the cops found about $7,900 in cash in Moon’s car and on his person, WBTV reported.
After the cops arrested Moon, Chapman drove him back to a local patrol office to transfer him to another officer who would take him to jail. Once they got to the office and prepared for the transfer, Moon accused Chapman of stealing some of his money in front of at least three other cops.
The bodycam video showed a sergeant walk over to Chapman’s police car to investigate. He asks Moon to accompany him. Chapman is seen opening the driver’s side door and blocking the pocket on the door.
When the sergeant asked Moon if he saw anything in Chapman’s car that looked like his money, Moon pointed to some cash lodged in the driver’s side pocket.
“It’s right here. It’s all the blue hundreds right there behind that receipt. All that is my money,” Moon said, according to the video.
The sergeant removed the receipt and the cash from the pocket.
“That ain’t my money,” Chapman said to Moon.
“That’s my money,” Moon responded. “If I’m right, it’s gonna be around $1,000,” Moon said to the sergeant.
Moon was correct. After searching Chapman’s car, police found $900.
“I heard him tampering with that rubber band,” Moon said. “That rubber band was on that money because my girlfriend gave it to me this morning.”
A police affidavit stated that Chapman was “fidgeting around” in his patrol car when Moon accused him of theft. Before the sergeant searched his vehicle, he got out, emptied his pockets, and denied having the money. The sergeant said that Chapman was moving the money between his legs and into the pocket of his patrol car.
According to arrest records, Chapman admitted that he took the money but said he never intended to steal it. After further investigation, authorities learned that Chapman also violated the police department’s bodycam policy.
He was arrested and placed on unpaid leave but resigned from his job the day after the traffic stop. Chapman had worked with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department since 2009.
He’s scheduled to appear at a probable cause hearing next month.
“This is deeply disappointing for our organization,” CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings said in a statement released after the arrest. “We hold ourselves to the highest standards, and a violation of that trust is a serious offense. However, I want to assure the public that we take all allegations seriously, and we will not tolerate misconduct within our ranks…no CMPD employee is above the law.”
