Lead Cop In Atlanta Eagle Bar Raid Busted For DUI And Marijuana Possession

The police officer who led the ill-fated raid at the Atlanta Eagle has been arrested for DUI and possession of marijuana.

According to Cobb County Sheriff’s Office booking reports, Bennie Evett Bridges, 41, was stopped Thursday a little before 3 a.m. for speeding in excess of 100 miles per hour and Cobb Police officers subsequently charged him with possession of less than an ounce of marijuana as well as driving under the influence of alcohol. According to APD officials, Bridges is now on administrative leave with pay. Bridges is an investigator in the APD’s vice unit and he spearheaded the department’s investigation into claims that illicit sexual acts were being performed at the Atlanta Eagle in 2009.

RELATED: Nineteen customers and employees of the Atlanta Eagle reported that cops threw them to the filthy floor of the bar during the September 2009 raid and hurled anti-gay slurs at them as they lay there. All defendants were later found not guilty or had their charges dismissed. In December 2010 the city of Atlanta agreed to pay a $1M settlement to victims of the raid.

(Tipped by JMG reader Dan)