DC police question burglary victim's sexuality, dance at crime scene, video shows

WASHINGTON - An internal investigation has been launched after DC police officers were caught on camera making comments about a victim's sexual orientation and even dancing inside his Southeast home.

Clarence Williams said officers responded to his apartment after it was broken into twice within three weeks. He said a burglary suspect smashed the glass back door with an object while he was at work and made off with several of his possessions.

"(It was) the same scenario as last time, broke the glass and then once he shattered the glass he just pulled the glass out and was able to walk right in," Williams said. "It didn't make me feel good that my house had been targeted twice. I figured he got mostly everything that he wanted when he was there the first time."

The alarm went off and officers responded, but never checked the back door, according to Williams.

"They came, knocked on the door, talked to a few people who were outside and left. My house sat open for eight hours," Williams explained.

He said officers came back to his apartment after a neighbor called to report the broken door, and that's when his surveillance camera captured a male and female officer laughing, dancing and making judgments about Williams.

"They were going through the list of things that were stolen and making assumptions about what my sexuality might be," Williams described.

"He's probably gay," one officer can be heard saying while both chuckle.

Shortly after, a female officer can be seen dancing in the middle of the crime scene.

"It's very troubling and disgusting and I think it's a testament to the lack of training the police are receiving," Williams said. "I believe if they were receiving the proper training things like this wouldn't happen and they wouldn't just do things like this in the midst of a crime scene."

DC police said they were investigating the actions of the officers and released a statement that said in part, "Their behavior is not representative of the inclusive environment we work tirelessly to uphold on a daily basis for residents and visitors of D.C."

Williams said the female officer personally drove to his home and apologized to him and stated he accepted her apology and doesn't want the officers to lose their jobs. He also asked FOX 5 to blur the faces of the officers when airing the home surveillance video to protect their identities. Williams said he hoped that releasing the video would serve as a lesson to other officers for them to think about their actions at a crime scene.