Former Ky. deputy arrested for assault during off-duty incident at gas station

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) - Kentucky State Police has arrested a former Montgomery County sheriff’s deputy.

Richard “Jordan” Perri is charged with strangulation, assault and wanton endangerment. This all stems from an incident last weekend at a gas station. Perri was off-duty at the time.

“I’m scared, I can’t sleep, I’m scared of police, I’m scared to come to my own business,” said Ifran Saeed, a Marathon gas station owner.

Saeed returned to the job for the first time since he said he was attacked.

“My back hurts, my shoulder hurts, my hand, my eye, my leg right there,” Saeed said.

His injuries are the result of an argument that turned physical. Security camera video shows Perri, an off-duty Montgomery County sheriff’s deputy, walking into the frame behind the store counter.

“He was already aggressive from the first step to the door,” said Heather Fallen, another employee at the gas station.

Fallen, who was standing nearby, said the argument of whether snow was shoveled, escalated quickly.

“The owner said, ‘well let’s just put up the video and if you were here and if I can see if you did something I’ll pay you the money,’ and that is when he came back around the counter and choked him,” Fallen said.

Then in the video, it appears Perri twists Saeed’s arms and pushed him out the front doors.

“I was nervous, scared, because I’d never been in a situation like this before,” Saeed said. “He started choking me, I can’t breathe.”

“I say, ‘I’m calling 911, I’m calling the cops.’ Call the cops, and the man looked at me and said, ‘I am the cops,’” Fallen said.

Fallen said it was two regular customers at the pump who stopped the scuffle.

Saeed said he’s hiring an attorney and said he’s afraid.

“I don’t want this to happen to anybody else because it’s scary and it’s wrong,” Saeed said.

An assistant county attorney confirmed to us Deputy Perri was fired on Thursday. We reached out to the sheriff Friday for comment. Our messages were not returned.

Copyright 2022 WKYT. All rights reserved.