Gregory Police Chief Back In News, Facing New Charges

Taft, Texas

The Gregory Police Chief is finding himself on the wrong side of the law again. This time he and his wife are facing assault charges for an argument.

This is dashcam video from Taft police officers who responded to the assault call between Gregory Police Chief Joseph Roberts and his wife Monica Roberts. Taft Police say, Monica Roberts slashed two of the tires on her husband's Gregory Police Cruiser, after he allegedly threw a beer bottle at her. The video from the dashcam recording is not what's compelling here, it's what Joseph Roberts can be heard saying. When talking with the Taft Officers about a recent manhunt in Gregory where a game room was robbed... Roberts seems to be saying he *wanted* the suspect to shoot him.

"A lot of me thought, if I go and get him and he shoots me because of everything that's going on in the news," Roberts said.
Taft Officer: "That ain't the way to think about stuff and that's why you didn't do it. You backed up and did it the right way."
Roberts: "But you know what? At least I would have went out a hero."

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Group Protests For More Severe Penalties For Houston Police Officers Caught Beating Teen By Surveillance Tape

Houston, Texas

A group of protesters chanted on the steps of City Hall this morning and demanded a federal investigation and more severe penalties for Houston police officers accused of beating teenaged burglary suspect Chad Holley last spring.

The demonstration by Houston-area members of the National Black United Front was one of four scheduled today by different groups of civil rights activists, many of them critical of the misdemeanor charges brought against four officers. 

Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland immediately suspended officers involved in the arrest when he was mailed a private surveillance tape last April, and announced the firing of seven officers the same day a grand jury returned misdemeanor charges against four of them last June.

After the protest ended, the Rev. Johnny Jeremiah led the group in prayer and urged Houston citizens to rise up and protest the police brutality case that is garnering nationwide attention.

"God, give us the power to bring them down for beating that child,“ Jeremiah said.

Jeremiah said he wanted to ask Mayor Annise Parker why she kept secret a surveillance tape of the March 2010 beating, and why she said last week a television reporter who broadcast the tape should be held in violation of a court order.

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Stafford Officer Charged with Felony Theft

Officer Charged with Felony Theft: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

Houston, Texas

An area police officer is finding himself on the wrong side of the law.

The Stafford Police Officer is now indicted on two felony counts. Paul Kevin Germany worked for the Stafford Police Department for 19.5 years.

A department spokesperson says Germany was in charge of the property room since 1994. Germany is now accused of stealing more than $14,000 from the very evidence room he was supposed to guard.

"He was the only person that actually maintained custody and preservation of the evidence that was submitted during the course of all the investigations," Fort Bend County Deputy District Attorney Scott Carpenter said.

The veteran police officer has been indicted on charges of theft by a public servant and abuse of office. They are third-degree felonies.

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Congressman Asks Feds to Investigate Video Depicting HPD Beating Teen

Houston, Texas

Congressman Al Green called on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the circumstances of the arrest of a teenage burglary suspect after police officers were caught on a videotape kicking and hitting the teen as he lay on the ground last year.

A surveillance tape at a nearby business recorded several officers beating 15-year-old Chad Holley following a chase March 23, 2010. Holley was arrested for burglary. Four officers were indicted in the case.

Green, D-Houston, said he'll formally request later today that the Justice Department investigate the case.

"Ours is a request that justice be done," Green said during a news conference Monday at one of his congressional offices in southwest Houston.

Officers Phil Bryan, Raad Hassan, Andrew Blomberg, and Drew Ryser were charged with official oppression, a Class A misdemeanor for punching, kicking and stomping Holley.

Bryan and Hassan also were charged with violation of the civil rights of a prisoner, a misdemeanor. HPD Sgt. John McClellan, Lewis Childress and Gaudencio Saucedo were fired but not charged. Saucedo later got his job back after he appealed his termination and an arbitrator ordered the Houston Police Department to reinstate him.

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Former Sheriff's Deputy Pleads Guilty to Charges for Extortion, Stealing and Selling Drugs

Houston, Texas

A former Harris County Sheriff's Office deputy has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit extortion, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston announced today. 

Richard Bryan Nutt Jr., 43, pleaded guilty Monday and was convicted before U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore to conspiring with others to use his position as a law enforcement officer to steal drug loads from dealers and split the proceeds with others after the stolen drugs were sold by co-defendants. 

Nutt's sentencing is set for June 6. Nutt, who was fired from the sheriff's office, is on bond pending sentencing. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison without parole for the conviction and a $250,0000 fine.

The conviction stems from a joint Houston Police Department and FBI sting operation initiated after HPD obtained information that members of law enforcement were robbing shipments of narcotics in Houston.

Prosecutors say that on Dec. 15 Nutt met with co-defendants Nathaniel House, 37, Richard Jerome Banks, 38, John Edward Scott, 34, and Danny Wayne Bell, 40. 

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Houston Mayor Fears Release of Tape Depicting HPD Beating Teen Will Hurt Officers Chances of "Fair" Trial

Houston, Texas 

Houston's mayor said Thursday that the release of a video showing several Houston police officers last March allegedly kicking, punching and stomping on a handcuffed teenager could jeopardize the chances for a fair trial for those officers involved in the case.

"We don't want to do anything to jeopardize the prosecution of these police officers," Mayor Annise Parker said Thursday.

Last year, a federal judge granted a request from Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos to block the release of the footage, saying pretrial publication would likely prevent the four HPD officers from receiving a fair trial on misdemeanor charges of oppression.

Houston police Chief Charles McClelland suspended eight officers within three days of receiving the tape last year. Three other officers were fired without being charged. Five additional officers received two-day suspensions.

In June, Andrew Blomberg, Phil Bryan, Raad Hassan and Drew Ryser were indicted on misdemeanor official suppression charges and fired. Bryan and Hassan also were charged with violation of the civil rights of a prisoner, also a misdemeanor.

Heights community activist John Branch said he suspects the tape was withheld to prevent the grand jury from returning harsher charges.

"If that was me beating the hell out of somebody, and they caught me on video doing it, they would probably get me with attempted murder," Branch said.
No felony charge

Felony charges for assault were not available to grand jurors because Holley did not receive "serious bodily injury" under the law.

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Liberty County Police Captain Convicted of Selling Police Ammo To Buy Guns To Sell Through His Own Business

Cleveland, Texas

A 56-year-old veteran peace officer has been convicted of federal firearms and mail fraud violations in the Eastern District of Texas announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.

Harry Leroy Kelley, a Captain with the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, was found guilty by a jury of possession of stolen ammunition and two counts of conspiracy to commit mail fraud following a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Thad Heartfield.

According to information presented in court, from 1992 to 2009, Kelley served almost exclusively as a police officer for the Cleveland Police Department in Liberty County, Texas, and for a short time in 2009, as a captain with the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office. During a portion of that time, Kelley had control over Cleveland Police Department’s firing range and at least 100,000 rounds of 40 caliber hollow-point semi-automatic ammunition.

Those rounds had been specifically manufactured for use by law enforcement officers and were provided to Kelley for use by federal agents who were required to qualify at the firing range.

Instead of using the rounds of ammunition for the intended purpose of qualifying Cleveland Police Department law enforcement officers at the range, Kelley instead converted the ammunition for his own use by exchanging it for 86 new weapons which he could sell through his business, K Ventures, and providing some of that same ammunition to customers who purchased new firearms from K Ventures.

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