An Atlanta police officer has been accused of pointing his gun and yelling racial slurs at a family during a road rage incident when the officer was in uniform while off duty.
Officer Robert Malone faces charges of oath violation, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and child cruelty, according to a police report.
A woman told authorities that on May 5 in the afternoon she was leaving a parking lot with her partner and three children, when she almost crashed into a black Chevrolet Camaro in which Malone was traveling.
Former Officer Robert Malone.NBC Affiliate in Atlanta
According to the complainant, the officer
pointed his gun at the windshield of the car the family of five were traveling in, yelled racist abuse at him and told him he would "blow his brains out."
According to her testimony, she, her partner and their three children were traveling in the car.
“That scared them (the children), seeing the gun pointed at them.
My 11-year-old daughter lowered my 8-year-old daughter's head down to protect her, and told her they were targeting us," the woman told local television station NBC Atlanta.
"That night I cried."
The woman said the incident stopped traffic and went on for several hours.
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The complainant and her fiancé got out of the car and confronted the officer.
Police were then
called, but before they arrived at the scene Malone was gone
, according to the police report.
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A police spokesman told NBC Atlanta that the officer had been on paid leave, but since July he had resigned his position.
Malone's attorney denied the allegations against his client and declined further comment at this time.
Malone is out on bail.