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NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office says one of its reserve deputies was arrested following an incident in the Uptown area in the 900 block of Joseph Street.

According to a written statement, the reserve deputy kicked a man in the face. The statement says the victim was being placed in handcuffs at the time by police.

The reserve deputy involved is identified as Van Ballard. He was arrested and booked with a simple battery charge.

According to the OPSO statement, Ballard will remain suspended from the department while the NOPD investigates the case.

New Orleans police say Ballard was on the NOPD from January 1987 to February 2012. The department says he was hired as a firearms instructor on October 1.

A spokesman for the NOPD says Ballard was terminated from this instructor job shortly after his arrest this morning.

According to the NOPD, officers were originally investigating a group of suspicious people who were pulling on the doors of cars to see if they were unlocked. As officers arrived in the area, they saw the suspects run and scale fences in the area. One of the suspects was arrested while hiding in the backyard of a home on Joseph Street, and that’s the suspect who was allegedly kicked in the face by Ballard during the arrest.

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