A New Orleans police officer was arrested Thursday morning on charges he beat two people and stole a wallet while on duty.
Officer Rydell Diggs, 31, a seven-year veteran of the NOPD assigned to the 2nd District, was booked into the Orleans Parish jail on two counts of aggravated battery, one count of theft and one count of malfeasance in office, according to jail records.
The charges against Diggs allege that he committed aggravated battery with a police baton on a man and aggravated battery with pepper spray on a woman.
The charges resulted from a complaint brought to the Police Department's Public Integrity Bureau, the department's internal investigative unit, police said. The complainant accused the officer of taking $300 and beating the man during a traffic stop on Aug. 7, 2007, at Monroe and Hickory streets in West Carrollton.
Diggs was a patrolman assigned to the 2nd District, which covers a wide swath of Uptown. NOPD spokesman Bob Young said the time between the complaint and the charges are because of the extensive work required in developing the case.
"It took time to develop witnesses in the case," Young said.
As of Thursday, Diggs was suspended without pay pending the outcome of the case and final review by the police superintendent, according to police.
The charges against Diggs have been accepted by the Orleans Parish district attorney, according to jail records. The case, however, has not been allotted to a criminal court judge and a court date has not been set.
A spokeswoman for the district attorney's office declined to comment.
Diggs' criminal case file was not available Thursday, according to the magistrate clerk's office.
He was released on his own recognizance Thursday via an order by Judge Laurie White, according to court records. That means he did not have to pay bail or show up for a first appearance in magistrate court.
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