Two New Orleans Officers Arrested

Two New Orleans police officers were booked into jail Thursday in separate criminal incidents.

In one case, a 6th District officer was indicted on charges that he participated in kidnapping a woman last summer. His partner, who was indicted last fall, is accused of undressing and raping the woman while she remained shackled, according to court documents.

In Thursday's other arrest, an officer was booked into jail for allegedly firing his weapon into his car at a downtown hotel parking garage while off-duty.

The arrests are the latest in a steady stream of misconduct cases to hit the New Orleans Police Department, which finds itself under federal investigation for possible deadly misconduct in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

NOPD spokesman Bob Young acknowledged the indictment of officer Thomas Clark, 36, on a count of second-degree kidnapping, adding that the allegations stem from the same incident as an alleged rape by Clark's partner, Henry Hollins.

Henry Hollins is being held in lieu of $1.5 million bail.

In November, Hollins was indicted both with aggravated rape and kidnapping. He is being held in jail in lieu of $1.5 million bail, according to court records.

Young said Clark is suspended without pay pending the outcome of the criminal case. Clark, who joined the NOPD in 2001, remained in jail on Thursday evening.

The Clark and Hollins indictments were unusual in that they stemmed from investigations conducted by the Orleans Parish district attorney's office, not the NOPD's Public Integrity Bureau.

Chris Bowman, a spokesman for the DA, acknowledged Clark's indictment, but declined to elaborate on the circumstances of the case.

Court documents allege that Hollins, 46, drove a woman to the intersection of Tchoupitoulas and Felicity streets "where he completely disrobed and raped the victim while she remained in handcuffs."

Hollins then drove the woman to an unknown location and released her from custody, the arrest warrant states.

Months prior to his indictment in the alleged rape, Hollins, a 12-year police veteran, was arrested and booked with domestic abuse for allegedly punching his wife in the mouth with a closed fist.

He was placed on desk duty following the domestic violence arrest in late August. After his indictment in November, NOPD Superintendent Warren Riley said Hollins was suspended without pay.

Clark's attorney, Frank DeSalvo, criticized the district attorney's office for its handling of the case.

"It's extortion," he said.

DeSalvo said that Howard Robertson, the head of the investigative unit for the district attorney, only made the case on Clark because the officer refused to implicate his partner by admitting to certain details of the crime.

"He wanted (Clark) to come in and tell him what he wanted to hear," DeSalvo claimed.

Bowman declined to respond to DeSalvo's accusation, saying "the district attorney's office is not going to try this or any other case in the media."

In Thursday's other arrest, police booked Officer Patrick O'Hern for illegally discharging a weapon on Dec. 12. The incident occurred about 2 p.m. on the rooftop parking lot of the Hilton New Orleans Riverside hotel at 2 Poydras St., said Officer Shereese Harper, a police spokeswoman.

Young said O'Hern fired his weapon several times into his personal vehicle. O'Hern was put on desk duty following the incident and now, after his arrest, is suspended without pay, Young said.

O'Hern was released from the Orleans Parish jail not long after he was booked. It is unclear who is representing him.