Mother of sexual harassment victim wants rehired Baton Rouge police officer gone

BATON ROUGE — Following an investigation by Unfiltered with Kiran that revealed the Baton Rouge Police Department had hired an officer who was previously fired 23 years ago, the mother of one of the officer's victims spoke about the rehiring.

Officer Tramelle Neldare, 56, was fired from BRPD in 2000 for conduct unbecoming of an officer, sexual harassment, and lack of truthfulness following two separate assault allegations.

On July 29, 2000, Neldare made a traffic stop on Brandon Butler, who was 19 at the time. According to Butler's mother, Angel Matthews, Neldare abused his power that night.

"That feeling that I had that night when he came home from that incident, I felt it," she said. "I’m like, what? Who? Who did they hire back? How did they hire him back? Why did they hire him back? Why? Who let this happen? "He (Neldare) said to Brandon if I put my… he didn’t even say penis… he said his dick in his face because he put Brandon’s face to him if he put it in his mouth, would he bite it and Brandon said 'he kept calling me a little bitch.'"

Less than four weeks after that traffic stop, Neldare became the subject of another internal affairs investigation, which involved a woman who claimed Neldare sexually harassed her. Greg Phares was the BRPD police chief at the time of the investigation.

"He intervened in what appeared to be a verbal domestic argument and used that opportunity to go in and inappropriately place his hands on the female that was involved in the argument and to make suggestions and invitations to her that were, in our opinion, quite inappropriate," Phares said.

Neldare was terminated for the incident. Records obtained by UWK show that after Neldare was fired, he was hired at the Pointe Coupee Sheriff's Office in 2002 and worked there for three years before taking a break. He was rehired by the sheriff's office in 2006 but resigned both times. He then moved to the Port Allen Police Department before resigning in 2010.

Butler, who is now a Baton Rouge Police officer, became coworkers with Neldare when he was rehired in 2023.

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