A Fulton County deputy sheriff is assigned to administrative duties after his pre-dawn arrest Monday morning in the city of South Fulton.

Arrest warrants say officers were called to a handle crowd control in the midst of a large altercation at Harold’s Chicken and Ice Bar, 5495 Old National Highway, sometime after 3:00 a.m.

Police report multiple intoxicated people, and a dust-up between two groups seemed focused on two individuals. The root of the fight was unclear, but someone told police that it involved “the Saints fan.”

Officers say they told the arguing people to leave, but one man, later identified as Byron Thomas, argued with officers and then resisted when they tried to take him into custody. The crowd jumped into the fracas and tried to pull Thomas away from police.

“Multiple unidentified people grabbed officers’ arms and crowded our space as we were trying to detain Mr. Thomas,” the report states. “Officers continued to struggle to detain Mr. Thomas due to him tensing his body and refusing to place his hand behind his back.”

Tori Cooper, spokesperson for city of South Fulton Police, says some police officers also had minor facial or hand injuries.

“Our officer documented in his report that he sustained a swollen lip, which occurred when Mr. Thomas’s head made contact with his face during the incident,” Cooper said.

Eventually, police wrested him away from the clawing crowd and got Thomas on the ground, deploying a taser as he continued to struggle. The report says the taser was ineffective, but after more struggling, officers managed to cuff Thomas and take him to a patrol car.

Then, he revealed he was an off-duty law enforcement officer.

“Mr. Thomas began pleading with me to reconsider charging him because he is employed as a deputy sheriff for the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office,” the affidavit says. Thomas told the officer that he had only been trying to prevent his nephew from fighting with someone.

Warrants also say that Thomas’s wife was charged because she intervened in the scuffle as police tried to arrest her husband and was captured on bodycam video “grabbing officers.” An officer says she appeared to have suffered a bloodied lip when a police corporal grabbed Thomas’ wife and pushed her backwards to stop her from intervening.

Thomas’ wife faces misdemeanor charges of simple battery and obstruction, while Thomas is accused of felony obstruction and misdemeanors of public drunkenness and disorderly conduct.

“No one is above the law,” Cooper said. “We treat everyone the same. It doesn’t matter if you’re in law enforcement. You are going to be held to the same standard as every other citizen in South Fulton.”

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office says it is aware of the incident, which is actively being investigated by the city of South Fulton Police Department.

“The FCSO employee involved has been placed on administrative duties pending an internal investigation,” FCSO states.