14 DAY TRIAL // A police officer from Tucson, Arizona has been arrested for assault after threatening a store clerk with a weapon.
Kyle James McCartin was off duty at the time of the incident and he was accompanied by a friend. Arrest reports show that he was severely intoxicated when he entered the Giant gas station in Tucson.
CCTV cameras caught the attempted robbery on Tuesday, July 15 at around 3 a.m. The footage shows him pulling the gun and pointing it at the gas station attendant twice.
According to Tucson Police, the officer has been terminated after the tape was released. The clerk pressed charges and McCartin was arrested on two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
"We would hope that the people in the community would take this incident and hot hold it against the other officers, toward deputies that are working hard," PCSD Deputy Jesus Banuelos tells KVOA in a statement.
"You come here at night and get gas with your kids or you know on the way home from work or being out and to see that is not a safe feeling," a resident comments.
Others shown the footage were surprised and terrified by the 23-year-old officer waving his gun around.
"Is it scarier seeing a police officer do that?" a reporter for KGUN has asked.
"Oh, terrible. [...] They're an example," one neighbor responds.
"That's shocking," another woman adds.
Neither McCartin nor his friend was wearing a shirt when the incident occurred, but they both had bullet-proof vests on.
No information about the other man entering with McCartin before he threatened the convenience store clerk has been provided.
McCartin was arrested once before this year for having adult movies featuring children in his possession.
At the time, his ex-girlfriend claimed that he was violent and abusive towards her.
"It was getting to a point where either he was going to kill himself or kill me," she recalled.