LR officer arrested in groping of 3 women

A Little Rock police officer was arrested Wednesday after police said he and another man sexually assaulted three women in a nightclub in February.

A statement released just before 6 p.m. Wednesday by the Little Rock Police Department said probationary officer Edward Taylor, 26, was arrested on three charges of harassment earlier that day. Taylor was relieved of duty in February. Officers retain a probationary status for two years after being hired, department spokesman officer Eric Barnes said.

The probationary status has no bearing on potential disciplinary action, Barnes said.

According to a police report, three women approached police officers working off duty at approximately 3:50 a.m. on Feb. 17 at Discovery Night Club at 1021 Jessie Road and said two men had assaulted them.

The women — ages 30, 32 and 34 — described the clothing the two men were wearing, and officers said Taylor and Ocie Brown, 26, matched the description. The women said Taylor and Brown grabbed their groins and breasts, the report said.

One woman told police that one of the men — the report did not specify which — waved a bag of what looked like marijuana in her face. A bartender at the club said Taylor flashed his police badge at her and tried to grab her, the police report said.

Brown also was arrested on a harassment charge, but neither man was listed in the Pulaski County jail as of Wednesday evening.