Saying it was against building policy, a police officer with the Mercedes-Benz Superdome told LSU football players celebrating their national championship win in the team's locker room Monday to extinguish their victory cigars.

That's when he felt NFL football player Odell Beckham Jr. slap him on the backside.

The 48-year-old lieutenant said his first reaction was to punch Beckham, a former LSU player, but that he kept his cool.

The next day, however, the officer called the New Orleans Police Department and said he wanted to press charges, according to court records.

By Thursday morning, police had obtained a warrant to arrest the Cleveland Browns wide receiver on a count of simple battery, thrusting the mercurial football star into another controversy stemming from his actions during the title game.

News of the arrest warrant naming one of the most widely known players in the NFL filled the airwaves and social media sites. It also came as videos were circulating of Beckham, 27, handing out what appeared to be cash to LSU players on the field after Monday night's game. University officials speculated the money might have been fake.

As of late Thursday, Beckham, who played his prep football at New Orleans' Isidore Newman School, had neither surrendered to authorities nor been arrested in connection with the accusation of simple battery.

Efforts to contact Beckham or a representative were unsuccessful. But in a statement Thursday, Cleveland Browns officials said they had been in touch with the player and his representatives, who were "cooperating with the proper authorities to appropriately address the situation."

A sworn New Orleans police statement filed in Criminal District Court recounts how a stadium police officer had been ordered to enforce the Superdome’s no-smoking policy when he confronted some LSU players in their locker room and asked them to put out their cigars.

The security officer told police that one unspecified team member was “argumentative” at first but ultimately complied with the request. At that moment, the officer said he was struck on the buttocks from behind.

According to police, the lieutenant momentarily “wanted to retaliate by punching the offender” — later identified as Beckham — but didn’t. That description appears to have been included to illustrate that the contact was unwanted, which is necessary to allege a battery.

The officer also considered arresting Beckham but decided against it “due to the jovial atmosphere of the locker room.”

The sworn statement suggests the officer later realized who had slapped him after a cellphone video of the encounter had gone viral online. After calling the NOPD and undergoing an interview early Wednesday, the officer indicated that he wanted to press charges.

Although the police statement doesn't name any of the players the lieutenant spoke to, the clip shows an officer admonishing LSU right guard Damien Lewis before the slap. Lewis doesn't appear to have a cigar in his hand, and the officer seems to be asking what's in a bottle near Lewis.

The NOPD officer leading the investigation into the case initially applied for a warrant to arrest Beckham on a count of misdemeanor sexual battery, which Louisiana law defines as the intentional touching of the breasts or buttocks of someone who did not consent.

But Magistrate Court Commissioner Melvin Zeno rejected the application, determining “that the elements of the crime did not rise to that of sexual battery but rather that of a simple battery.”

Police then reapplied for an arrest warrant accusing Beckham of simple battery, a misdemeanor defined as a "battery committed without the consent of the victim."

The difference between the crimes is significant.

While misdemeanor sexual battery carries a maximum of six months in jail, it is more serious than other misdemeanors because it is not expungeable in the event of a conviction. Simple battery also calls for up to six months in jail upon conviction, but it is expungeable for first-time offenders.

As a freshman, Beckham helped LSU reach the 2011 national championship game, which the Tigers lost to Alabama at the Superdome.

The New York Giants later selected Beckham in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft. His spectacular catches and productivity helped him develop a huge fan following in the Big Apple.

The Giants traded Beckham to the Cleveland Browns before the beginning of the NFL's 2019 season. The ensuing campaign was a disappointment for the Browns, who finished 6-10 and missed the playoffs.

LSU invited Beckham to its sideline and locker room on Monday night, when the Tigers defeated Clemson, 42-25, to claim the fourth national title in the school's history.

His locker room encounter with the stadium police officer is not the only controversy in which Beckham became mired that night.

Another involved a video depicting him giving cash to at least two players on the field after the game concluded, which prompted the sports world to speculate about whether any rules governing the college players' amateur status had been broken.

LSU’s athletic department said it is unclear whether that money was novelty bills that were found on the field or actual, real cash. The university said it is in touch with the NCAA and the Southeastern Conference over the matter.