Staff Reports

A Shreveport police officer has been arrested following a fight at a local bar.

At approximately 10:12 p.m. on Saturday, Shreveport police patrol officers were dispatched to a fight at the Brass Monkey Bar in the 3100 block of Youree Drive. Upon arrival officers contacted 26-year-old Harrison Daugherty who reported he had been accosted by two male suspects. The victim suffered moderate injuries and was treated at the scene by the Shreveport Fire Department.

Detectives were notified, and based on information and evidence gathered during the course of their ongoing inquiry, believe Daugherty was involved in a dispute with 41-year-old Eric Swartout and 39-year-old Brandon Howard. During the altercation Swartout and Howard allegedly struck the victim numerous times causing him to lose consciousness. Investigators subsequently charged Swartout, of the 1500 block of River Parkway Boulevard in Shreveport, with one count of simple battery and one count of second-degree battery while Howard, of the 4000 block of Glyn Street in Bossier City, is facing a single count of second-degree battery. Both men were booked into the Shreveport City Jail.

Swartout, who joined the department in May of 2003, has been placed on paid administrative leave by Chief of Police Willie Shaw in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Shreveport Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board which states: “When an employee is charged with a felony he shall, and if a misdemeanor he may, be immediately relieved of duty and placed on “departmental leave” for up to one week at full pay and with continuing seniority”.