#Cop involved in Breonna Taylor shooting accused of sexual assault

Sexual assault allegations have surfaced against one of the Louisville police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, according to a report on Tuesday.

At least two women have accused Officer Brett Hankison in recent social media posts of sexually assaulting them after offering them a ride home in his police cruiser, PEOPLE reported.

Hankison, 44, was one of the three plainclothes cops who burst into Taylor’s Louisville home March 13 during a botched raid and began firing, killing the 26-year-old EMT.

He and the other cops, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Officer Myles Cosgrove, were placed on administrative leave while the department investigates their actions.

None have been criminally charged in connection with Taylor’s shooting, which is currently under investigation by the FBI.

A Louisville Metro Police department spokesman told PEOPLE it had reached out to the women accusing Hankison of sexual assault so that its public Integrity Unit “can initiate and conduct an investigation.”

The spokesman wouldn’t say whether any formal complaints alleging sexual harassment or sexual misconduct involving Hankison had been received or previously investigated.

One of the women wrote on Facebook last week that in April 2018 Hankison gave her a ride home from a bar in his marked car and then “invited himself into my apartment and sexually assaulted me while I was unconscious.”

“I never reported him out of fear of retaliation,” she wrote, adding: “Who do you call when the person who assaulted you is a police officer?”

The other woman wrote on Instagram that, while getting a ride home from Hankison last fall, he “began making sexual advances towards me; rubbing my thigh, kissing my forehead, and calling me ‘baby.’”

“My friend reported this the next day, and of course nothing came from it,” she added.

Records obtained by local outlet WDRB News show Hankison has been accused of improper sexual conduct in the past.

In 2008, he was accused of receiving oral sex in exchange for not arresting a woman, and in 2015 a woman claimed he attempted to have sex with her in exchange for not taking her to jail, according to records obtained by the outlet last month.

Both incidents were deemed to be “unfounded” by internal investigators with the department. No mention of the incidents were included in Hankison’s personnel file.

An attorney for Hankison didn’t immediately return a request for comment. PEOPLE said it was unable to reach or independently verify the accounts of either woman.