Saratoga Springs

A city police officer was placed on administrative leave while department leaders try to sort out if he used excessive or improper force on a motorist who claimed to have shown the officer his middle finger.

Saratoga Springs Police Chief Gregory Veitch announced Monday that Nathan Baker had been put on leave while police brass examine the circumstances of a traffic stop the officer made near the Hampton Inn on Lake Avenue at 3:34 p.m. Saturday. During the stop, Baker arrested Adam Rupeka, 35, of Troy, and charged him with driving with an obstructed view, a traffic violation, and resisting arrest, a criminal misdemeanor, Veitch said.

Rupeka recorded part of the arrest, Veitch said, and the video was posted on YouTube and a Facebook page called Capital District Cop Block, which purports to promote police accountability. A person by the same name as Rupeka also writes on a separate Cop Block website, and wrote on the YouTube video page that he specifically drove to Saratoga County last weekend to test cops on how they would react to being shown the middle finger.

The video, which is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIpNK5-w81M&feature=youtu.be, opens with a man, who is not seen, driving a vehicle near City Hall. As the motorist passes an officer driving in the opposite direction, the driver apparently shows him the middle finger.

Seconds later, Baker pulls Rupeka over, according to the video. The officer is heard on the tape asking for Rupeka's license, to which the driver responds, "What crime have I committed?" Baker then asked Rupeka to step out of the vehicle because he was under arrest for disorderly conduct, according to the video.

On the YouTube site, Rupeka alleges Baker used pepper spray on him twice and twisted his arm in a car window. "I'm going to sue the (expletive) out of you guys," the man can be heard saying on the video. On YouTube, Rupeka argued the middle-finger gesture was an act of free speech protected by the U.S. Constitution. He also says cops choked, kneed, kicked and punched him at the police station.

On Monday, Veitch said Baker used force, including pepper spray, during the arrest, and that Rupeka was treated by medical personnel at the city police station and Saratoga Hospital emergency room.

While the department has purchased body cameras for its police officers, Veitch said Baker was not equipped with one during the incident on Saturday. Downtown security cameras do not clearly capture the area where the traffic stop occurred, and police have not been able to locate any private security video of the incident, the chief said.

"I take very seriously any allegation of improper use of force made against any officer of the Saratoga Springs Police Department, and I have been in contact with Mr. Rupeka regarding this incident," Veitch said in a statement. "An internal investigation of the entire incident has already commenced."

Rupeka was scheduled to be arraigned in Saratoga Springs City Court on Thursday.

dyusko@timesunion.com • 518-454-5353 • @DAYusko