COLUMBUS — The city's police chief has recommended that an officer be fired in connection with an allegation that he arrested a man in January because he assumed the man was an illegal Mexican immigrant.

        Officer Astley Davy is the city's first police officer to face a departmental charge of racial profiling. He said the allegation against him by Police Chief James Jackson is bogus.

        “I'm a black man accused of targeting Latinos. Isn't that the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard?” Officer Davy said.

        Safety Director Mitchell Brown will decide Officer Davy's fate in a hearing.

        On Jan. 5, Officer Davy arrested a Latino man in a hit-skip accident. The officer's superiors said he made several mistakes, including chasing and arresting a man who he couldn't prove was involved in the accident, according to a police internal affairs bureau report.

        A sergeant ordered the officer to release the man because Officer Davy hadn't seen the accident and had no witnesses. The report said Officer Davy argued the man should be arrested anyway for being an illegal immigrant.

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