KOKOMO, Ind. — A Kokomo police officer who was charged with a road rage-related battery will be put on unpaid administrative leave.
The Kokomo Police Dept. confirmed Roy Smith, who was been with the department since 2005, will be placed on unpaid administrative leave starting on November 24.
Charges were filed against Smith in September in connection to a road rage confrontation where a man’s nose was broken.
Court documents indicated Smith was off-duty when he and a 60-year-old man got into a physical fight after the man said Smith cut a vehicle off on Southway Boulevard on May 22, 2022. The man said his wife, who was driving, honked at Smith, while Smith said the couple flipped him off twice. Smith then followed them into a parking lot.
Witnesses agreed both men got out of the car to argue, although both men said it was the other who threw the first punch.
The 60-year-old man suffered a broken nose, fractured orbital, and fractured rib in incident.
The man was wearing a gun holstered on his hip during the confrontation and said he feared Smith would try to disarm him and shoot him.
According to court documents, Smith did not have a weapon on him and never identified himself as a police officer.
Only the 60-year-old man filed a police report, and at the time, Smith’s identity was unknown in the report.
It was only later when Smith was talking to a fellow officer about the encounter that the officer realized Smith was the unidentified motorist. The fellow officer had investigated the May 22 confrontation. He later filed a report, saying Smith told him he had attempted to disarm the other man when he saw the gun holstered on his hip.
Smith was put on administrative leave on June 17 once the connection was made that Smith was the unidentified motorist.
He has pleaded not guilty to a charge of battery resulting in serious bodily injury and disorderly conduct.
