Cop resigns after being found locked in back seat of squad car with female suspect

A San Diego Police Department officer resigned after being found alone in the back seat of a cop car with a woman who had told him she was “down to f***,” a newly released investigation revealed.

Anthony Hair resigned a month after the August 2023 incident with the unidentified woman, but the results of an internal investigation were finally released earlier this month, with investigators finding he’d failed to follow proper procedures and falsified police reports, a violation of law, according to NBC 7 and CBS 8.

Officer Anthony Hair was with several other San Diego officers on August 15, 2023 when they arrested the woman and another individual suspected of car theft. Body cam footage recorded a conversation between Mr Hair and the woman as he drove her to the Las Colinas Detention Center in his squad car.

In the recording, she asked Officer Hair if he’s married and if he’s single, telling him: “You’re not too bad. What’s it going to hurt me if I work the system, you know what I mean?”

San Diego Police arrested a woman in August 2023, pictured, who told Officer Anthony Hair she was ‘down to f***.’ Mr Hair was later found in the backseat of his cruiser with the woman. (San Diego Police Departmnet)

“I’m down to f*** right now,” she continued.

“Don’t say that right now,” Mr Hair responded. “Don’t say that right now because everything is being recorded right now.”

After driving for some time, Mr Hair stopped the vehicle, at which point his body camera shut off. He later told investigators he believed the woman was having a medical emergency, NBC 7 reports. Mr Hair also claimed he knocked his body camera off its clip when he exited the vehicle, according to CBS 8.

Roughly 20 minutes after the car stopped, Mr Hair called an officer asking if he had a master key for the vehicles.

That officer told investigators he noticed Mr Hair had a “panicky voice,” CBS 8 reports.

“I asked him if he was okay,” the officer said. “He said, ‘yes,’ and then asked if I had my patrol car key with me…I asked why he was asking and what did he need.”

An hour later, around 2.40am, a supervisor arrived and opened the car door. Mr Hair said he was checking on the woman, and the door had accidentally closed behind him.

Hair resigned a month after the August 2023 incident with the unidentified woman, but the results of an internal investigation were finally released earlier this month, with investigators finding he’d failed to follow proper procedures (San Diego police)

“Officer Hair then asked me If I could go meet him. I asked him his location and he said, near Cottonwood… I asked him why he needed me, and he said he would tell me when I got there,” the unnamed officer Mr Hair called continued. “He said he was really embarrassed.”

The woman later told investigators Mr Hair asked for her phone number and to meet up when she was released from jail, NBC 7 reports.

“He wanted to get with me when I was done with the warrant or whatever I got arrested for,” she said.

She also told investigators there was never any sexual contact between her and Mr Hair.

The San Diego District Attorney’s Office told NBC 7 they cannot comment on whether charges will be brought against Mr Hair.

The Independent has contacted the San Diego District Attorney’s Office and the San Diego Police Department for comment.

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