CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. - The three women lounging in a pool and sipping drinks were surprised to see a uniformed police officer suddenly appear on the patio.

They later told investigators they were stunned as an officer from Cathedral City, a city of about 45,000 about 5 miles southeast of Palm Springs, unbuckled his gun belt, unbuttoned his shirt, dropped his pants and underwear and jumped into the pool.

"We just couldn't believe he was actually getting into the pool," one of the women said.

The couple who own the house, as well as their two friends, filed a complaint with the Cathedral City Police Department early Wednesday, claiming the on-duty officer who responded to a neighbor's noise complaint ended up naked in the pool.

A police spokesman declined to comment on the specifics of the complaint but confirmed the department placed an officer on paid leave Wednesday while he is investigated for misconduct.

Early morning footsy'

Police say that an initial call was received at 3:45 a.m. Wednesday from someone complaining about noise. Fifteen minutes later, police received a call about an officer in the pool.

The women, who said they had been drinking, said they chatted with the officer briefly and joked that he should join them.

They say he then stripped, left his holstered gun on a poolside table, and jumped into the pool.

The officer followed the women around the pool, flirtatiously "playing footsy" for about 10 minutes, the husband said.

Asked what the women were wearing, one of the women said, "We had bottoms on . . . and tops."

The husband ran to the front of the house, scrawled the license plate number of the patrol car onto his forearm and called 911.

"I thought maybe someone would show up and see him inside the pool," the man said.

When the officer heard the call on his police radio, he jumped out of the water, grabbed his clothes and ran back to his car, according to the wife and one of her friends.