Calumet City police officer under investigation after sexual assault accusation

CALUMET CITY, Ill. (WLS) -- A Calumet City police officer is under investigation after a woman accused him of sexual assault during a traffic stop Saturday.

Latoya Thompson said that Calumet City officer ordered her out of her car during a traffic stop Saturday. She says the officer made lewd comments and touched her inappropriately.

"I was extremely scared and nervous and like I said, I just wanted to get away from the situation," Thompson said. "I just wanted to make it home...It needs to come out. He is abusing his power."

Her attorney said the officer left after getting a call from dispatch.

Calumet City police said the accused officer "was immediately removed from assignment without pay, pending termination proceedings" and a "criminal investigation into the allegations is being conducted by an outside agency."

Full statement from Calumet City police:

"On Monday August 17th, the Calumet City Police Department received information from several sources that a Facebook post alleging misconduct by a Calumet City Police Officer, had been posted earlier that day. Upon our initial investigation, we were able to contact the author of the post and did an informational interview via phone. At that time, the complainant had not contacted the Calumet City Police Department. We assured the complainant that we took her complaint serious and she has agreed to cooperate with our investigation. The information we received was deemed credible by our initial investigation, and we were able to subsequently identify the accused officer, and he was immediately removed from assignment without pay, pending termination proceedings. Also a criminal investigation into the allegations is being conducted by an outside agency. If anyone has any information regarding this incident please call the Calumet City Police Department at 708-868-2500."