Raleigh: Police detective fired after his arrest at a Wake Forest restaurant

The Raleigh Police Department has fired a detective who was arrested early Tuesday after Wake Forest police say he assaulted a restaurant manager and an emergency medical technician while off duty.

Christopher Andre Reed, 32, of Raleigh, faces six charges, including assault causing physical injury to emergency personnel, according to the Town of Wake Forest. Raleigh police confirmed that Reed had been with the department since July 2016 and was off duty at the time. The department announced his firing hours after the arrest.

Being charged with a crime does not mean a person is guilty. Reed has not been convicted. We could not find any public comment from Reed or from a lawyer for him.

The Wake Forest account

Just after 2:15 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, Wake Forest officers were called to Carolina Ale House on Northpark Drive, just off N.C. 98, for a report of an intoxicated person, the town said in a news release.

When they arrived, officers learned the manager had asked Reed to leave a few minutes earlier because he was bothering employees and customers, according to the release. As he left, he tried to hit two customers on separate occasions and then assaulted the manager, the town alleges. Arrest warrants say he grabbed the manager by the back of the head and pulled him to the ground, CBS 17 and WRAL reported.

A short time later, officers found Reed walking along Capital Boulevard/U.S. 1. He had cuts and scrapes from trying to climb a barbed-wire fence, the town said. Police allege he refused an officer's instructions and then assaulted a Wake County emergency medical technician who had come to help him. A warrant says he kicked the medic in the groin, WRAL reported.

Reed was taken to the Wake County Detention Center.

The charges

The town lists six charges:

• Assault causing physical injury to emergency personnel
• Assault of a government official
• Simple assault
• Resisting a public officer
• Disorderly conduct
• Being intoxicated and disruptive

The most serious, assault causing physical injury to an emergency medical technician, is a Class I felony under North Carolina law. Simple assault is a Class 2 misdemeanor.

Court records show Reed was held on a $20,000 secured bond, which he posted late Tuesday, CBS 17 reported.

Raleigh police respond

Raleigh police announced the firing after 10 a.m. Tuesday. Chief Rico Boyce said in a statement that department members are "held to the highest standards of personal and professional conduct, both on and off duty," and that the department has to respond quickly and openly when those standards are not met.

Boyce said the actions of one employee do not define the department. He said Reed will go through the court process like anyone else charged with a crime, and that Raleigh police will run their own internal affairs review of the circumstances of the arrest.

Carolina Ale House said in a statement to ABC11 that it was sorry the incident happened, that it was cooperating with investigators and handing over camera footage, and that it was looking after its employees.

How we got here

Reed's arrest and his firing came within hours of each other. Wake Forest police made the arrest in the early morning hours, and the Town of Wake Forest released the charges on Tuesday. By late Tuesday morning, Raleigh police confirmed that the man charged was one of their detectives and that he had been fired. We reported the firing in a video late Tuesday afternoon.

Neither department has said whether Reed had any earlier disciplinary history.

What happens next

Reed's first court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 1:30 p.m. in Wake County, according to court records cited by CBS 17 and WRAL.

The injuries to the manager and the EMT have not been described in detail. We will update this story after Reed's court appearance.