A Miami police officer was put on leave after appearing in a comedy sketch video with scantily clad Playboy models, but the women have rushed to his defense, insisting he did nothing wrong and that the video was all in good fun.

Posted to Instagram earlier this week by Playboy beauty Francia James, the brief skit features three barely clothed models walking toward a police station in handcuffs, with their frowning “arresting officer” close in tow. It has already amassed hundreds of thousands of views online.

Though the clip was intended to be funny, the city of Miami apparently forgot to laugh, with a municipal manager condemning the skit as “highly offensive,”“distasteful” and even “disgusting,” arguing the officer made a “mockery of the men and women of the [Miami Beach Police Department].”

Portraying the fictional arresting officer was William Beeker, an 11-year veteran on the force, who was placed on paid leave over the seemingly innocuous stunt while the department carries out an internal investigation. It’s unclear what more they expect to find.

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James and her co-stars – fellow models Maddy Belle and Julianne Kissinger – were mortified by the backlash, saying the city overreacted and that Beeker doesn’t deserve punishment for his appearance in the clip, which they say took only a few minutes to film.

“Him being in it just made our video great,” Belle said. “We were just doing our own skit, just the three of us, and he came out of the blue and was checking on us at first. And we asked him, 'Hey, you want to be a part of our video?”

It shouldn't put him in a bad light. Yes, we were dressed a little provocative, in lingerie. But it was supposed to be funny. Like, 'Ha ha, look at these girls.' [Beeker] being in it just made it that much funnier for us.

The models now say they regret that the sketch landed Beeker in the trouble it has.

“I'm really sorry this all happened,” Belle said. “He doesn't deserve that. He was just helping us.”

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