Covington Police Chief Tim Lentz said Monday’s arrest of Richard Reed, the brother of Northshore District Attorney Walter Reed, came about after what he observed on videotape inside The Chimes Restaurant.

Lentz said the video showed the woman physically resisting Reed’s advances as he groped her private areas.

He was booked on sexual battery charges.

“It stunk. It didn’t pass the smell test,” Lentz said Tuesday. “We saw some alarming stuff. You’ve got a lady who is so intoxicated she is basically incoherent. After she realizes what is going on, she begins to punch and kick to try and get away from Mr. Reed. That led (the restaurant) to call us. That was her reason for going ballistic.”

The 65-year-old Richard Reed was pulled over after he left the restaurant with the woman.

Lentz, who looked at the video last week, did not release the video because it was part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

Walter Reed issued a statement saying he would recuse himself and his office from the investigation.

The incident in question was first brought to the public eye last week when Covington Police stopped Reed and he flashed a “wallet badge” from the D.A.’s Office, apparently in an attempt to give the impression he was associated with the office.

Police issued the woman a summons for public intoxication at the police station. However, that charge was later dismissed by city prosecutor Rene Frederick.

Walter Reed has been under the microscope recently over his spending of campaign contributions, his affiliation with St. Tammany Parish Hospital and use of public funds for a supplemental retirement plan for himself and a number of his employees.

Walter Reed blamed his troubles on the prying eye of the media for “unwarranted and obtrusive disruptions” and attacks on his family.

Officials are looking closely at Richard Reed’s employment at St. Tammany Parish Hospital. Both the district attorney and St. Tammany Parish President Pat Brister have asked for an independent audit of the district attorney’s office’s finances.