Louisiana authorities dropped charges against a woman who was cited for indecent exposure while wearing shorts and a crop top.
On Tuesday, the Winnfield police chief apologized to Casey LaCaze-Lachney for the faulty accusation, according to the Shreveport Times.
LaCaze-Lachney took to TikTok to air her grievances against the police officers who ticketed her for inappropriate attire at a June 11 festival in the small city of about 5,000.
“At a family event, where there is alcohol being literally handed out for free… three female cops came up to me and gave me a f–king ticket,” she said in a profanity-laced tirade while clad in the supposed immodest outfit that led to her ticket.
The short video received millions of views, and police officials threw fuel on the fire in a subsequent Facebook post that complained the woman’s viral complaint had a “negative impact on the service of our police officers.”
Officers “responded to various complaints about the person’s attire and the person of interest was issued a citation under the city ordinance,” cops wrote in the post, which was lampooned by thousands of sarcastic commentators.
LaCaze-Lachney and her attorney met with Police Chief Johnny Ray Carpenter and Winnfield City Attorney Herman Castete on Tuesday, and both officials acknowledged her outfit was not illegal.
The officials explained that a Winnfield lieutenant ordered an officer — who was also his wife — and two other cops to issue the citation, which carries a fine of up to $300 and 40 hours of community service.
“This means that the ordinance was improperly enforced not just by three lower-level officers, but by the police department’s lieutenant,” attorney Randall Hayes told the outlet.
The officers involved failed to turn on their body cameras, but third-party video of the arrest reportedly confirmed that LaCaze-Lachney was wearing the clothes she had on in her TikTok message and not exposing herself.
In a follow-up video posted on the platform Tuesday, LaCaze-Lachney said the police chief has her “full respect” after apologizing for her ordeal.
