'I'll make something up': UK cop suspended after video catches him threatening to fabricate charge against man and throw him in jail

A police officer in the United Kingdom has been suspended from duty after he was caught on video Friday threatening to throw a man in jail and adding that he would fabricate a charge against him, Lancashire Live reported.

What are the details?

Police officials said in a statement that officers were on their way to execute a search warrant at an address when they "stopped to speak to a group of males with a quad bike" in Accrington, Lancashire, BBC News reported.

The man the officer spoke to in the video was buying the quad bike for his stepson and was pulled over by police, the Lancashire Telegraph noted.

Soon the man accuses the officer of harassment and says, "I've done nothing wrong."

With that the officer asks, "Do you want me to show you the definition of harassment?" He then tells the man, "Give me the keys and sit in the car and shut up."

The officer then turns back and gets in the man's face.

"If you wanna f***ing step to me, and push your chest out and something like that, then fine, I'll lock you up. We'll do that, shall we?" the officer says.

The man again insists, "I've done nothing wrong," to which the officer replies, "I'll make something up. Public order. Squaring up to a police officer. Shall I do that? Who are they going to believe, me or you?"

The officer then repeats the question, this time screaming it: "Who are they going to believe, me or you?"

Here's the clip. ( Content warning: Language):

Lancashire constabulary copper threatens a lad then says he will make something up to arrest himyoutu.be

Amid the coronavirus lockdown, the man later noted on social media that the officer was "not keeping his two-meter distance, spitting at me while he was shouting," the Telegraph said.

The aftermath

Lancashire Constabulary publicly apologized after the video went viral on social media and confirmed the unnamed officer was suspended from duty, Lancashire Live reported.

"We absolutely recognize the impact this footage has had on public confidence," the police force said in a statement to Lancashire Live, adding that "we have also taken the decision to voluntarily refer the matter to the Independent Office of Police Conduct. We hope these actions go some way to reassuring the public how seriously we are treating this matter. We will be speaking to the man in the footage to keep him fully informed regarding the actions we are taking."

Anything else?

There have been a number of headline-grabbing incidents involving police across the pond as the coronavirus lockdown there drags on.

U.K. police were caught on video tearing into a journalist documenting cops removing a woman from a public park because they believed she wasn't there to exercise. One officer told the journalist he was "not authorized to go around videoing" before letting loose with some hollering: "You're killing people! Go home!"

Last week an expletive-filled video was posted to Twitter showing a man berating "British f***ing police" who allegedly bashed through his front door "to make sure there's nothing going on" amid the COVID-19 lockdown.

Content warning: More than a few F-bombs:

And earlier this month, a U.K. cop was caught on video telling a man he isn't allowed to sit in his own front garden due to the government's COVID-19 lockdown.

The officer also chastised the man for wanting to go to the supermarket twice — and that she saw him out earlier after making a nonessential purchase: "You've already been to the shop once; I've seen you with two cans of pop."