Prosecutor who told cops they’d ‘regret’ cuffing her placed on unpaid leave as career hangs in balance

NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND: The Rhode Island special assistant attorney general who shot to infamy this week after a dramatic arrest where she warned cops they’d “regret” hauling her in is now paying the price.

Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan, 35, is officially moving from a cushy paycheck to unpaid leave.

Devon Flanagan's fall from grace

Devon Flanagan was nabbed on trespassing charges after allegedly refusing to cooperate with police. Initially, her bosses put her on paid leave while they sorted things out. But starting Monday, she’ll be off the clock and off the payroll, the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office confirmed to Fox News.

The office didn’t respond to questions about when or if a final ruling on her job will drop. Payroll records dug up by the 'Boston Globe' show Flanagan was pulling in about $113,000 a year as a special assistant AG.

The viral clip that started it all showed Flanagan trying to flex her badge when police tried to cuff her outside Clarke Cooke House in Newport on August 14.

“I’m an AG! I’m an AG!” she shouted as officers struggled to detain her. “You’re going to regret this. You’re going to regret it. I’m an A—” she yelled before cops stuffed her into the back of a cruiser.

One unimpressed officer shut that down fast: “Good for you, I don’t give a s***,” he said.

Devon Flanagan's boss calls her behavior 'inexcusable'

Attorney General Peter Neronha didn’t mince words about the episode when asked about it on WPRO Radio. He called it “inexcusable behavior,” adding that it will likely result in “strong, strong sanctions.”

“I’ve got 110 lawyers. She embarrassed all of them,” he said. “I haven’t had many issues like this while I’ve been attorney general. I’ve had a few, and I let one guy go for driving drunk — had to bring him back. Well, I didn’t have to but did bring him back after I fired him about a year later because, again, I needed somebody to go into a courtroom and try ugly, hard murder cases.”

“It’s just really hard to find and keep capable lawyers, and so I just have to think really carefully about this one. But no question there will be a strong, strong sanction here,” Neronha added.

Devon Flanagan had an 'unblemished' past

Peter Neronha chalked up Devon Flanagan’s outburst to alcohol, but made it clear that’s no excuse. “She’s humiliated herself,” he said.

He also praised her prior track record, describing her as having an “unblemished” history, respected by the state bar, and someone now working to apologize to the Newport Police Department.

Still, some of her legal claims during the confrontation were flat-out wrong. At one point, Flanagan insisted officers were legally required to turn off their bodycams at a citizen’s request.

According to Neronha, that’s not true. “I’m not sure what she was thinking. Clearly, she was not thinking straight,” he said.

The AG summed it up with a grim forecast for her career: “Regardless of what happens vis-à-vis her employment with us, she’s going to have a long time coming back from this. It’s just really unfortunate,” he added.