Bodycam video released during metro Atlanta judge’s arrest at club

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Police Department has released body camera video that shows the arrest of a Douglas County judge who now faces charges including a felony.

The incident happened early Thursday morning around 3:15 a.m. outside Red Martini Restaurant and Lounge in Buckhead.

Douglas County Probate Judge Christina Peterson is charged with willful obstruction of a police officer using threats or violence and simple battery against a police officer, according to Fulton County Jail records.

RELATED: Douglas County judge charged with felony following arrest at Buckhead nightclub, lawyer says charges should be dismissed

Fulton County Magistrate Court arrest warrants said Peterson allegedly “struck an officer with a closed fist.” Court documents also revealed the officer was investigating an argument between two people in the living room. Warrants indicated Peterson was not involved in the initial altercation.

Atlanta police released video of the incident Friday evening. On their YouTube channel, they posted a condensed, nearly five-minute version of Peterson’s arrest. APD also released a longer version, which lasts over two hours. 11Alive is still reviewing the full, unedited version.

In the condensed body camera video released by Atlanta police, the video begins with police walking in the parking lot outside the Buckhead Salon in the 3000 block of Peachtree Road NE.

The responding officer approaches the nightclub, where there appears to be a confrontation in progress. A security guard on scene then grabs a woman, who Atlanta police described as a security guard separating those involved in the altercation.

The officer then approaches the security guard and the woman and repeatedly tells her to “relax.” The woman appears to be yelling about a man she had an altercation with, saying, “He just touched me for no reason.”

As the officer and security guard attempted to calm the woman down and remove her from the situation, Peterson walked toward the officer, security guard and woman and began yelling.

“Let her go! Let her go! Let her go! Let her go!” Peterson is heard saying to the officer and security guard.

You may hear someone say “stop” several times. Peterson appears to try to use both arms to push the officer and security guard away from the woman. What happens next is unclear from the video. The camera gets grainy and shakes, and seconds later, Peterson is on the ground with the officer handcuffing her.

During the altercation, someone in the crowd shouts: “He’s a cop! He’s a cop!”

Atlanta police said that’s when Peterson allegedly struck the officer. Part of the video is provided below.

The video then cuts to Peterson outside the officer’s patrol vehicle. Peterson says: “I didn’t hit any bullshit—.” The officer then said: “You hit me. You hit me.”

After getting Peterson into the patrol vehicle, the officer attempts to ask him for his identification. Peterson says the officer “doesn’t need ID” and “takes me wherever you need to take me.” The police officer then repeats several times that he cannot take her anywhere until she provides him with identification and a date of birth.

Here is a short excerpt from that moment.

Back at the station, the officer is still trying to get Peterson’s identity. He asks her what her first and last name is.

“You can Google me and find me anywhere in America” Peterson said, continuing to refuse to give the officer his name.

As previously mentioned, 11Alive is still reviewing the two-hour video released by APD.

Before the release of the body camera video, Peterson’s attorney, Marvin Arrington Jr., held a news conference earlier in the day. He said the arrest and charges were not justified because Peterson was trying to help a woman who was being attacked by a man.

The woman, Alexandria Love, broke down in tears as she described what happened and the times Peterson stepped in to help her.

“He viciously attacked me, punched me in the face with his fists and she was the only one to help me,” Love said.

Love told reporters Friday that she believed Peterson accidentally hit the officer, mistaking him for her attacker. Peterson did not speak at the news conference.

“The judge was only trying to help. The judge’s friend’s fiancé and another person are all eyewitnesses who will confirm what the young woman who was attacked said and what her friend said. said, the judge had nothing to do and they let the young man who was attacking the lady go,” Arrington Jr. said.

He added that all charges should be dropped.