JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — A former Johnson City Police Department (JCPD) officer is charged with official misconduct and tampering with governmental records for allegedly disabling his police cruiser’s camera and his body camera during an April 2024 vehicle pursuit.

A Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) news release says Connor Cooper, 27, turned himself in Friday, eight days after a Washington County Grand Jury indicted him on two counts of official misconduct and one count of tampering with governmental records.

Responding to queries from News Channel 11, a Johnson City spokesperson wrote Friday afternoon that JCPD placed Cooper on administrative leave “after the Department discovered conduct inconsistent with Department policy.”

After an internal investigation, Cooper resigned on June 10, 2024, just less than three years after starting his job with JCPD. JCPD provided the results of that investigation to First Judicial District Attorney General Steve Finney. Johnson City also recommended that the Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission decertify Cooper.

The indictment came 13 months after TBI began investigating allegations against Cooper at the request of Finney, who recused himself from the case.

The release says agents learned about Cooper’s involvement in the vehicle pursuit.

“Cooper intentionally disabled his police cruiser’s in-car video system and his body-worn camera, and instructed a trainee riding with him to turn off his body-worn camera in an effort to unlawfully tamper with, destroy, conceal, or limit the availability of the video footage,” the release states.

Cooper was released on a $3,000 bond.

News Channel 11 reviewed POST commission meeting archives and learned the commission considered JCPD’s recommendation to decertify Cooper at its Aug. 15 and 16, 2024 meetings.

Records show commissioners at a decertification subcommittee meeting Aug. 15 approved JCPD’s recommendation and recommended the full commission accept a signed agreed order of suspension. That document noted there was “pending litigation.”

The full post commission approved that recommendation Aug. 16.

Details of court hearings are not yet available on Washington County’s court website. This is a developing story.