Fired Arkansas Cop Sues City for $2.5M

A former Forrest City Police Department officer who was fired in 2014 over a photo posted on social media is suing the Arkansas city for more than $2.5 million.

The Herald-Times reports the photo shows then-officer Aldridge O’Neal Winfrey in uniform standing next to convicted felon Jimmy Laws, who had a handgun in his waistband.

At the time the photo was discovered, Winfrey told investigators he knew Laws from riding motorcycles together but claimed he had no idea Laws was a felon or that he had a firearm.

Winfrey had been dismissed after an internal investigation.

The lawsuit claims Winfrey was unjustly fired because he was “consulting” with the “wrong person or persons.”

Interim police chief Deron Lee says he will not comment on pending litigation.