The Guardian reports that St. Louis County police are investigating Officer Todd J. Bakula after he made a Facebook post bragging about his “annual Michael Brown bonus,” an apparent reference to extra income earned while working during protests in Ferguson this week.

Police responded aggressively to demonstrations marking the one year anniversary of Michael Brown’s death. Many St. Louis County police officers ended up working overtime.

“I decided to spend my annual Michael Brown bonus on a nice relaxing bicycle ride trip to Defiance,” Bakula wrote on his Facebook page. Defiance is a recreation destination about 40 miles from Ferguson. “Eating dinner now and staying at a bed and breakfast tonight.”

St. Louis County media relations officer Shawn McGuire confirmed to The Guardian by email that Bakula is a patrolman with the St. Louis County police department.

“We understand the post is controversial,” McGuire wrote. “The St Louis County police department takes these allegations very serious in every case. The remarks on the Facebook page will be investigated by our department.”


Photo credit: AP Images. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.