NEW ORLEANS — One of two rookie New Orleans police officer accused of beating a man outside a Mid-City bar last summer has pleaded guilty to a simple battery charge.
John Galman entered the guilty plea Wednesday morning and sentencing for his case was scheduled for Feb. 27.
Galman and Spencer Sutton were arrested hours after the alleged incident left George Gomez hospitalized with bruises to his face and cuts that required stiches. The fight also resulted in the NOPD firing Sutton and Galman.
Gomez later told The Advocate one of the officers “asked me if I was American. I told him yes, and he got mad because he said I was fake." Gomez described himself as a U.S. native who was raised in Honduras before returning to live in New Orleans.
During an interview with WWL-TV, Gomez said that he had “served” the country.
Gomez said he left the Mid-City Yacht Club, a neighborhood bar, after the argument with Galman and Sutton but that the confrontation continued outside. Gomez said Sutton and Galman tried to keep him around to continue arguing with him.
Some of the details about what happened next were murky as Gomez recounted them.
Ultimately, he said, he walked home and a short time later tried to leave in his truck. But, he said, Sutton and Galman were nearby and stopped him in the middle of the road at Baudin and S. Murat streets.
He said he had no choice but to get out of his car and confront them.
“We are gonna kill you,” he recalled them shouting at him. The next thing he knew, he was being pummeled.
Sutton's trial was set for March 13. Sutton's attorney, Jake Lemmon, said that his client is contesting the charge against him.
“My investigation has turned up information that the incident happened very differently than originally reported," Lemmon said. "None of the evidence so far shows that my guy committed a simple battery. The facts, if anything, show that my client was a peacekeeper.”