Guilty: Ex-Cop Who Beat Walmart Shopper Over Tomato

ATLANTA, GA — A federal jury convicted a retired Atlanta police officer on Friday of using unreasonable force in 2014 when he beat a man wrongfully suspected of stealing a tomato at a Walmart. Trevor King, of Stockbridge, broke two bones in the victim’s leg with his baton, say federal prosecutors.

The jury also convicted King of writing a false incident report to cover up his wrongdoing, prosecutors said.

King, 49, a former police sergeant, was working in uniform while off-duty in October 2014 at a Walmart store near downtown Atlanta when he saw Tyrone Carnegay, a customer, weigh a tomato and walk toward the store’s exit, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. King accused Carnegay of stealing the tomato; Carnegay said he had a receipt.

King then struck Carnegay seven times with his police baton, breaking two bones in his right leg, say federal prosecutors. King found Carnegay's receipt, but wrote a false report to cover up his assault, alleging that Carnegay assaulted him.

After emergency surgery at Grady Memorial Hospital, Carnegay was taken to the Fulton County Jail "to be held on King’s bogus charges," which were later dropped, prosecutors said.

King’s retirement from the Atlanta Police Department took effect in January, and the trial began in July, the AJC reported.

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