A foul-mouthed Georgia probate judge allegedly pushed an Atlanta cop twice outside a nightclub and then refused to identify herself after she was arrested, according to police and bodycam footage.
Douglas County Judge Christina Peterson, 38, was cuffed and placed in the back of a cop cruiser early Thursday morning for battery against a police officer.
Cops said she interfered with a police officer trying to de-escalate a situation where a security guard working at Red Martini Restaurant and Lounge attempted to escort another woman outside, according to 11 Alive News.
“Let her f—cking go, let her f—cking go,” Peterson yelled at the guard and police officer, according to the footage released by Atlanta police and obtained by local outlets.
Police said the footage then showed Peterson, a Democrat, push the officer, who was working an approved extra job, in the chest twice and swipe at his hands during the commotion around 3 a.m., leading to her arrest.
The officer took Peterson to the ground and slapped handcuffs on her as a crowd formed around them, according to the clip.
The video, presented by Fox 5 Atlanta, later cuts to Peterson refusing to identify herself as the officer pleads for her name.
“You don’t need an identification,” she said angrily. “You have picked up dead bodies when you don’t know who bodies it was, but you picked them up. Take me where you need to take me.”
“I’m trying to,” the cop replied as the two continued to argue.
At one point, the judge suggested the officer Google her, to which the cop replied, “What’s your name so I can Google you.”
Other parts of the footage showed Peterson at the police station as she complained and cursed about the cop taking her by the arm while they walked, and then later in another police vehicle, when she was told the charges against her.
Peterson, who was allegedly under the influence during the interaction, per a police report obtained by Fox 5 Atlanta, is facing simple battery against a police officer and obstruction of a law enforcement officer charges.
But Peterson’s legal team in an emotional press conference following the arrest claimed she was just being a good Samaritan.
Her lawyer, Fulton County Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr., said his client was trying to defend the woman who police said was being escorted out, identified as Alexandria Love, outside the nightclub because she was being “viciously” attacked by an unidentified man.
Arrington said he believes she will be “totally exonerated” in the case and called on all the footage of the incident to be released.
Love said during the press conference carried by Fox 5 Atlanta the unidentified man accused her of cutting him on a food truck line, sparking the disturbance.
“He viciously attacked me, punched me in my face and Judge Peterson was the only one to help me,” she said.
She also claimed Peterson did not know she was putting her hands on a police officer.
Peterson, who took office in 2020, was previously found guilty of “systemic incompetence” by a judicial panel in April.
