[FULL DASH CAM VIDEO BELOW]
There are two sides to every story as they say. And police in Austin County want their side to be heard, after a Texas state representative publicly blasted one of their sergeants over what he says was mistreatment during a traffic stop.
State Representative Garnet Coleman was pulled over along I-10 two weeks ago for going 94 mph in a state vehicle.
During a hearing to talk about the controversial arrest of Sandra Bland, the Houston Democrat recounted his own history of being pulled over in traffic stops and gave his account of that I-10 stop.
He told the crowd that the sergeant treated him badly, saying he “talked to me like I was a child and was so rude and nasty.”
However, dash cam video released today appears to contradict those claims.
Just before 9am on the morning of July 14, the sheriff’s deputy clocked a car going over 94 miles an hour. It was Coleman driving his personal vehicle with state representative license plates.
Austin County Sheriff Jack Brandes released the dash cam video to KHOU to let people decide for themselves, if his deputy did anything wrong. The Sheriff said he saw nothing that indicated his deputy was disrespectful in any way. He wanted to make that clear and to show what his sergeant did and did not do.
In the final exchange of the nine-minute stop, you can hear the deputy telling Coleman he will let him go with a warning, the same thing another county did last year. The deputy explained to Coleman that had he gotten a ticket in that other county, and one this time, Coleman would lose his driver’s license on points.
He told him to stop speeding in a state car. At that point the state rep. got defensive and said to the deputy, “You don’t need to treat me like a child.” He goes on to say that he wasn’t paying attention, to which the deputy replies, “Well pay attention.”
Rep. Coleman has not yet responded to the dash cam video release.
I would have paused, asked for his lic. and write the ticket. Why, because it still looks like the officer is giving him a break because he is a state official. If you do the same for other people then I take what I just said back, but if it was because he is an official, you are just enabling him. I rarely get pulled over, and I just visited Texas a week ago on account I’m moving there.
I deal with officials all the time and when I suspect they are a jerk I hit em hard in my newspaper.
So the next time you pull one the “these” over and you suspect or reasonable suspect he is going to act like an ass, just hit em with the ticket. After 8 years in NJ I was pulled over by a young cop for something I was not aware off, he began to act tough, I apologized for even not knowing. He took my ID and went back to his car, made a call when I showed my PBA cards, when he got back to the car he was very polite, gave me back my ID and then began making small talk. I told him I have cancel my appointment and head over to the DMV to take care of the unknown issue. So, if you break the law, apologize for your ignorance and take what you get. I also just gave the Mayor of Woodland park Keith Kazmark a ticket myself, for parking next to a stop sign, because I though he should know better as a law maker. He paid the $50.00 fine. Bet he doesn’t come to Paterson and do it again.