Harris Co Precinct 4 Constables Accused of Excessive Force in Response To False Report

Harris County, Texas

Harris County constables are being accused of excessive force, following a home raid caused by a false report.

Brandwynne "Brandie" Prespentt had just completed work at 3 p.m. June 10 and decided to run some errands. Meanwhile, at home, her husband was being attacked by a dog assigned to a Precinct 4 constable's deputy. The attack on Travis Prespentt resulted in the need for 22 stitches.

What started the unusual series of events was a phone call to the constable’s office by a neighbor of the Prespentts. That neighbor, Tamara Denise White­side, phoned in a false report accusing Travis Prespentt of pistol-whipping and strangling his wife and dumping her in the back of his car.

Now Whiteside is in jail, Brandie Prespentt is alive and well, and the Prespentts are threatening to sue the constable's office for what they call an unprovoked attack.

"If my children hadn't been with my mother-in-law, what would have happened?" Brandie Prespentt asked. "And they never even apologized."

Travis Prespentt was cleaning his porch before the raid. He noticed patrol cars downstairs, but he didn't think they had anything to do with him.

However, when he went inside for a beer, police knocked down his door and ordered him to put his hands up. Prespentt said he did as they said, but deputies still sicced a dog on him.

As the dog chewed on Prespentt's arm, he said, the officers demanded to know where "the female" was.

At one point his sister phoned the apartment. When officers answered, Prespentt's sister immediately called his wife and told her to call her husband. Again, police answered the phone.

After Brandie Prespentt explained who she was, an officer told her about the call they had gotten from her neighbor.

Assistant Chief Deputy Mark Herman said deputies had to go to the apartment because of the serious nature of the neighbor's call.

When the deputies arrived, they identified themselves and warned that they had a dog, Herman said.

"If we hadn't gone, it would have been negligent," he said. "These things happen."

By the time Brandie Prespentt made it home, she said, her husband was covered in blood. He was taken to a hospital, where he received stitches on his arm and treatment for minor scratches.

Travis Prespentt said one of the deputy constables continuously accused him of punching the dog while he was being attacked. He has denied striking the dog, protesting that he is an animal lover.

As for the neighbor who phoned in the false report, she was charged with giving a false report and failure to show identification.

Travis Prespentt has not been able to go to work for the past week, which has hampered his ability to provide for his family and pay their hospital bills, he said.

"They just went on a rumor, and I think that's uncalled-for," he said. "I've never experienced anything like this in my life."