Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo was busy gearing-up for the Memorial Day holiday by distributing a disciplinary memo to a group of officers.
Sergeant Michael Brown was part of that group, who were stationed on Sixth Street last December. Brown apparently told officers not to leave their post to investigate a report of an unconscious and intoxicated person because closing time was approaching.
A lieutenant later told the officers to check it out.
An off-duty police officer has been arrested and accused of threatening his ex-girlfriend with his service weapon.
Houston Police Officer Joe Fleming, 39, has been charged with second-degree felony burglary of a habitation with intent to commit other felony.
According to Harris County Precinct 4 deputy constables, Fleming celebrated Mother’s Day by burglarizing his ex-girlfriend's home in the 14600 block of Philippine in northwest Harris County.
The couple recently broke up after dating for several years.
Once inside the ex-girlfriend’s home, Detectives say Fleming held his service weapon to the woman's head and threatened to kill her. Authorities also confirm that Fleming slapped the woman in the face several times, causing visible injuries.
Cops say the woman tried to use her cellphone to call for help, but Fleming took it and broke it.
The woman was able to eventually run to a neighbor’s house and contact police.
Fleming was booked into the Harris County Jail, where he is being held without bond.
An emergency protection order barring Fleming from contacting the woman was granted, officials said.
Rumors are circulating about racism in the Galena Park Police Department. A local news team has uncovered troubling evidence to suggest the rumors are true, including racist photos, secret tape recordings, and even allegations of a cover-up. One of the photos discovered depicts a white man squirting an African-American boy with a hose, with the caption: “Go be a nig**r somewhere else.” Another image is photo-shopped to show a co-worker in a sombrero, on a donkey, apparently to ridicule Mexicans.
A Harris County deputy constable has been accused of driving drunk with a child inside his vehicle.
According to police, they were alarmed when they discovered Precinct 3 Deputy Constable Henry Williams slumped over in his pickup truck in the 12400 block of Stonefield Manor near C.E. King Parkway about 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
Worried that he might have been suffering from a medical emergency, Williams was transported to a local hospital. As it turns out, he was fine, just drunk.
Detectives said Dumas was confronted by a group of men who didn’t appreciate the officer’s behavior and then escorted outside.
The disturbance escalated in the parking lot and Dumas stabbed one man, police said. Another man who was with Dumas hit another man with a pistol, police said.
Both victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Dumas fled the scene, but he was arrested a short time later. He has been charged with indecent exposure and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. His bond was set at $41,000.
Houston police said Dumas has been on the force since September and he works in the Westside district. He has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of the investigation.
For Dallas police officer Rafael Mendoza, there must be something appealing about the inside of a jail cell. After all, the officer has now been arrested for the second time in nine months.
In July, Mendoza was arrested on family violence charges. According to police reports, Mendoza was in an altercation with a female over an ex-girlfriend. The report said he then shoved the woman to the ground and put "flex cuffs" on her while telling her, "You are going to the pen for 10-15 years." Mendoza left the woman in the parking lot for about an hour before removing the plastic handcuffs, according to police documents.
This time around, the 34-year-old police officer faces charges of driving while intoxicated and aggravated assault. Mendoza reportedly opened fire on traffic along Interstate 30 in Mesquite early Sunday morning.
Mesquite police said drivers spotted Mendoza holding a gun out of his car window while he drove eastbound on the highway near Big Town Boulevard around 2:40 a.m. Sunday.
Police said Mendoza fired at least once, hitting the trunk of a passing car.
A statement by Mesquite police said Mendoza was drunk, and that officers also found marijuana in his car.
Rafael Mendoza was hired by the Dallas Police Department in 2008.
At the time of the 2011 incident, Mendoza was placed on administrative leave, but it's unclear what happened to the internal investigation or the criminal charges. Dallas police would not clarify on Sunday, although it confirmed that he was currently an officer with the department when he was again arrested in Mesquite.
Mendoza remains at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center in Dallas on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, driving while intoxicated, and possession of marijuana under two ounces.
